Prodigals
by MissWorded
Summary: DISCONTINUED -NaruHina- Sasuke and Hinata finally return to Konoha after six long years away from home. They're finding out fast that there's still work to be done in the old neighborhood. -Slight AsuKure, NejiTen, others-
1. 00: Prologue

For months, I have been on the edge of the Naruto-fanfiction diving board; today, I make the leap. I give you Prodigals, my first stab at Naruto fanfiction. First-posted, anyway.

Basically, it centers around the adventures of Naruto and friends when Sasuke and Hinata return to Konoha after running away. That and Naruto and Hinata hooking up. NaruHina, baby. Holla!

Pairings: NaruHina (definite) SasuSaku (possible) SakuLee (possible); NejiTen (definite)

Er. So. ENJOY!

* * *

_**Prodigals**  
_  
Chapter 00

_Prologue _

* * *

_Konohagakure, 11 AM. Hyuuga Estate._

"You have failed. Both as a ninja and as the Heir to our clan. Your loss to a Branch house member and subsequent hospitalization have brought shame upon us all."

Hinata couldn't speak or cry out. She simply nodded.

"You are worthless. Completely worthless."

_Worthless._

She nodded again. She was worthless.

The Clan elder stood before her with his cold, white eyes – like hers, but also so unlike hers. Those eyes were so cold… strong. She was weak. To reiterate, worthless.

Her father was out of Konohagakure no Sato on business. The Elders, against his wishes, had wanted to place the seal on her. With her father away, they would get their wish, taking advantage of his absence to their benefit. The Head Elder began to necessary ceremony.

"Hyuuga Hinata. The Caged Bird Seal, used for hundreds of years on the Branch House of the Hyuuga, will now be your fate. Do you understand?"

"Yes." It didn't really matter she was getting the seal. This was just a nightmare anyway. A common one. It would end soon.

"You will become a member of the Branch. You will live with the Branch. You will sleep with the Branch. You will work with the Branch. Your duties will lie in the protection and service of the Main House. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Not a stutter. She felt proud of her dream-self.

"As a member of the Branch, some of your duties will likely include attending to your Heir, Hyuuga Hanabi, in her daily tasks, household assignments, and etiquette. Hyuuga Neji will no longer be your protector, but the protector of Hanabi-sama, the true Heir. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Wasn't tomorrow the day of the Naruto-kun's match against Neji-niisan?

"You will now be branded with the Caged Bird Seal. Good luck be with you, Hyuuga Hinata."

He moved his fingers in the motion of the hand seals required to complete the process. Hinata's world went black and she knew nothing more.

-

When she awoke, it was much later in the day. Twilight was just settling in. Hinata sat up in bed, disoriented. Her forehead was suddenly on fire, like millions upon million of tiny, flame-filled pinpricks, piercing every inch of skin available. Her pounding migraine escalated painfully. She cried out.

A Branch member came rushing in, holding a bottle in her hand.

"Hinata dear, take this. It will help you head," murmured Hitomi gently, handing the bottle to her and smoothing hair over her forehead in a motherly fashion.

The small genin gulped greedily. Hitomi smiled. "Good girl, Hinata."

Her head cooling, Hinata frowned slightly. Not because she was in pain, but because something seemed off about Hitomi-san today…

"Hinata, listen to me please."

There it was again. What was wrong?

"Hi-na-ta… are you in there? Focus. You'll need a few days of rest before you're ready for training. I've laid out some bandages for you, because I know how you like to wear your forehead protector around your neck."

What was she talking about?

"I'll be back in a bit to check on you, okay?"

The girl nodded mutely.

"Bye, Hinata."

Her eyes snapped open just as Hitomi left. That was it. Hitomi wasn't calling her Hinata-sama. She was just calling her Hinata. The brunette jumped out of bed and ran over to the vanity. She stared into the mirror with morbid fascination, tracing her marked forehead with cold, slim fingers.

She was Branch.

_NO!_ Her mind cried out. _I wanted to get stronger! I wanted to prove myself! This isn't fair! I wanted to show Naruto-kun – I wanted to show him I could… make something of myself…_

Tears burned her eyes. She saw the window of opportunity – the one on the other side of the room, open and waiting. Hinata grabbed the pale yellow binding on her bedside table and slipped out without a sound.

-

Mother would know what to do. Mother always knew.

Hinata walked into the Hyuuga section of the cemetery, trying to draw as little attention as possible to herself even though the place was completely deserted.

Her gravestone was simple but elegant, and it fit her perfectly, Hinata thought with admiration. In Hinata's young eyes, her mother was a vision of perfection. An image of grace, beauty, and motherly love, someone who made her father smile that special smile. That stylized view would never leave her and for that she was very grateful.

"Please, mother. Tell me what to do. Show me! Anything… I'm just so confused. What would you want me to do?"

"Your mother would want you to be happy."

Hinata whirled around, heart pounding loudly in her eyes. Her face went beet-red, having been caught speaking to thin air. "Can I h-help you, s-sir?"

The strange man smiled down at her. He towered over her at nearly six feet, but he was of a thin, wiry build. His face was kind and his words were filled with sympathy. His eyes caught hers. Those silver eyes were fascinating and she couldn't look away.

"No," he said. "But I can help you. Would you like some help?"

_YES! _Her brain screamed. However, logic stalled this answer. "Excuse m-me, but I d-don't really know w-what you m-mean."

His smiled widened. "Of course you do. You wonder why you were sealed, why you were put in the Branch house. You wonder why life is so unfair to you, taking your mother and then your hopes and dreams of proving yourself. You wonder why you were born, if all you are to do is suffer."

Hinata was speechless. These were the deepest, darkest secrets of her mind, ones she didn't dare confront in the light of day, let alone in the light of day with a complete stranger. That should've alerted her to the danger.

"Who are you?" This was where Hinata made a fatal mistake: she let the hope creep into her voice.

His smile got even wider. "Someone who can help."

-

She was back in her room before Hitomi had even noticed she was gone.

"How are you feeling, dear?" asked the matronly woman with sympathy. She knew the pangs of the Branch well.

Hinata smiled at her, a real smile, something that obviously surprised the older woman. "I'm feeling wonderful. How are you?"

-

_Konohagakure, 12 PM. The Next Day._

Naruto was having second thoughts.

He was up against Neji, the genius prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan. He was the top genin of his graduating class, the Sasuke of his year. How could the three-time dead-last Academy student ever compete with that?

_It's hopeless, _he groaned to himself. _I'm never gonna win this!_

"Naruto-kun?"

He jumped. "Hinata?"

She smiled at him without blushing or anything. It seemed kind of strange that she wasn't. "The very same. Don't you have a match very soon?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Well, I guess I'm just – "

"Feeling nervous?" she supplied. "Having second thoughts?"

"Well, yeah." He muttered, looking away.

"You know, Naruto-kun… I have always admired you. I still do. No matter what, you always get back up. Even though you failed the Academy exams so many times, you always tried again. You always tried your hardest. You are a failure… but you're a proud failure."

He was speechless, but she continued.

"I always watched you get up and wondered how you could do it. I drew my nindo from you, Naruto-kun. You inspired me."

"Hinata –"

She hugged him. It was filled with her obvious affection. Naruto was stiff as a board at first, as if he had no idea what to do with physical affection, before he hugged back. She pulled away, smiling slightly, with a little pink dusting her cheekbones. This one fact made him a little more comfortable – blushing was definitely a very Hinata thing to do.

"I know I'm not very strong right now, but I promise, the next time we meet, I'll be stronger. Okay, Naruto-kun?"

He could only nod.

"See you around, maybe." She turned away and started to walk off.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!" She turned back for a moment. He grinned. "I like people like you!"

Hinata smiled again, blushing a little more, before disappearing into the trees.

That would be the last time Naruto would see her a long while.

-

_Border between Kuso no Kuni and Hi no Kuni, 12 PM. Six Years Later._

Sarutobi Asuma, Yuuhi Kurenai, and Hatake Kakashi were currently sitting in a seedy bar, very bored. Their teammate, Maito Gai, was scouting around the area.

"I don't know what the Hokage was thinking, sending us out here," said Asuma, slightly sullen. "There is absolutely nothing going on."

"Well, she must've had a good reason," said Kurenai, doubt creeping into her voice. Asuma shot her a look. "Riiiight."

"Shut up."

"What do _you _think, Kakashi?" Asuma asked pointedly. Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"Hm?"

"I said, do you think this mission is the real deal or a wild goose chase?"

"I don't know. But our source claims that the Shadow Siblings were last seen up here, and the source is very reliable."

Kurenai smirked triumphantly. Asuma pouted a bit. "You suck, Kakashi."

"And if I do…?"

Their banter was interrupted by Pakkun, who ran helter-skelter towards Kakashi. "There's a fight going on," the little dog summon said breathlessly. "I'm pretty sure it's the pair you're looking for." Kakashi smiled grimly beneath his mask and readjusted his forehead protector so that his Sharingan was visible.

"Direct me, Pakkun."

-

Two figures, a male and female, each dressed in all black, battled the bandits with an expert's ease. They were completely silent as they fought and wore strange masks. Half was black and half was white. With only tiny slits for eyes, they were completely smooth and flat. The only way to distinguish them was the slight flourish of the eye – it was the woman's. As soon as the bandits were dispatched, the woman relaxed her attack stance and slouched her shoulders. Removing her mask, she stretched and opened her eyes.

They were a pale lavender color. Kurenai stifled her gasp. This girl… this girl had an uncanny resemblance to her little Hinata, except she was grown up. There was the same heart-shaped face, the soft, feminine features, and those big, bright eyes that seemed so unexpressive on any other Hyuuga. Kakashi spared his teammate a glance, obviously noting the similar features and how they might distress her.

The man reached out and put a hand on the Hinata-clone's shoulder, which she shook off. "Oh, cut it out," said the woman. "I'm so sick of this, Sasuke. I want to go home."

With obvious frustration, the man removed his mask. "Did you have to ruin the moment?"

"What moment? The moment of gloating about your superiority? How male of you."

"Geez Hinata, note the sarcasm."

"Sasuke, note my pissed off state of being. I want to go home. I am not waiting to go there because some crackpot old man –"

"He is _not _a crackpot!"

"Oh? Prove it."

"…shut up."

"That's what I thought!"

Clearly, this was an argument made many times before.

"And it's not like they won't be glad to see you! You will totally be feeling the love, I guarantee it."

Sasuke shook his head stubbornly.

"I believe in what he said, even if he is a crackpot old man. So we're not going back until –"

"Until _what? _Until you have your clairvoyant vision? Until pigs fly? Until the apocalypse? Use your newfound divine connections, Sasuke dear, and tell when I get to go home!"

Sasuke began to open his mouth, but someone answered for him.

"How about now?"

They both heard the darts whistling in the air but were unable to dodge in time. Both their necks were pricked at the same instant. The last thing Sasuke saw was pair of familiar mismatched eyes.

* * *

So! Tell me what you think... about the writing itself, the plot idea, etc., etc. Hit me up, folks.

-FPC


	2. 01: Stares, Glares, and Past Affairs

Anyway! We find out what's been going on with Hinata and Sasuke all this time. Perhaps you will be surprised, reviewers. Muwahahaha!

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

Chapter 01

Stares, Glares, and Past Affairs

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto was girlfriend-less. 

It wasn't for lack of admirers. Oh no, his fan club had many members and was growing rapidly. What at first had been a funny irony, given that he was so hated in his youth by girls, was now just an annoyance.

It wasn't for laziness on his part either. He had gone on plenty of dates in the past years, some ending better than others. He remembered the catastrophe with the obsessed fan girl ("I _AM_ Mrs. Uzumaki Naruto!") and shuddered.

No, it was just that none of the girls seemed to stick. They are all too… something. Too tall, too tan, too blonde, too outgoing.

"_I know I'm not very strong right now, but I promise, the next time we meet, I'll be stronger. Okay, Naruto-kun?"_

It was her fault. Every time he hooked up with a girl, he could only think of her and how whoever his current date was so different from _her_. Either that or he imagined her in the girl, which made him feel so guilty he broke up with the poor thing right away. It was driving him insane.

_You better find your way home soon. _

-

_Hiko's Hotel, Room 304, 2 PM_.

Hinata stifled a moan and slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times to adjust her eyes to the bright lights of the small and decidedly gross hotel room. She tried to sit up, only realized that she already was upright and tightly bound.

"Morning," said Sasuke quietly, voice lower than usual. He was back to back with her, each tied separately and then tied again as a pair.

"Where are we?"

"No idea. I just woke up a minute ago."

"Who has us?"

"Again, no idea." He'd had a dream that it was Kakashi. _Ha. Right. Wishful thinking on my part. _

"Well, I want to surprise them, whoever they are."

"Hn."

Suddenly, there was a creaking on the wooden floorboards outside the door. They both tensed, Sasuke pressing a certain combination of symbols into her hand. She nodded her head in agreement.

The door opened. They were poised and ready to fight however they needed to get free. Chakra glowed softly on the soles of Hinata's feet, ready for a super-charged kick. They were both surprised by the person that opened the door. A glint of green, a twinkle of teeth…

"Hello, my youthful captives!" He smiled, nearly blinding them.

"_GAI?" _They said together, gaping. Hinata recovered first.

"Obviously, they intend to torture us," she whispered thoughtfully.

"…hn."

Gai gasped. "I sense that the springtime of youth still resides in you!" He clapped his hands excitedly. "COME! We must get you to Konoha as soon as possible!"

"Konoha, sir? As in Konohagakure no Sato?"

The muted excitement in Hinata's voice was obvious. His teeth sparkled and she winced. "The very same! Now come! Your transport is waiting downstairs!"

'Transport', as they soon found out, was obviously keyword for 'pack mule', because they were going to be carted around on the back of their former sensei. Once Hinata and Sasuke were firmly attached to Kurenai and Kakashi respectively, not to mention gagged, they began to the long and uncomfortable journey to Konoha. But both of the youthful captives were grinning uncontrollably.

They were finally going home.

-

_Konohagakure No Sato, the Hokage's Office, 9 AM. The Next Day. _

Her coffee had gone bad and had not cured her vicious hangover. She had lost half her month's pay when gambling the previous day. The eggs she was cooking had burned, and subsequently set the curtains in her kitchen on fire. A document of completed mission reports had flown out of her hands that morning and landed in a large muddy puddle. In attempting to retrieve said documents, she had gotten her outfit completely dirty. To top it all off, Jiraiya had a perverted moment at her expense when she bent down to pick up the papers.

The Godaime was not having a good day.

So when Kotetsu walked into her office and proclaimed that the two missing-nin Hyuuga Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke (both M.I.A.) had been captured at the border of the Fire and Grass countries, she nearly went on a rampage.

"HA HA HA!" She screamed, not in the least bit amused. "Kotetsu made a funny! One more joke and your sorry ass is suspended, buddy!"

The chuunin cowered under her fierce gaze, seemingly shrinking. "H-h-hokage-sama, I'm not j-j-j-joking!"

She bristled angrily, looking like a volcano ready to explode. Before Mount Tsunade could erupt, however, she was stopped by a voice from outside the room.

"Tsunade-sama!" said Asuma. "We have Hyuuga Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke in custody!" The door slid open. Both Kakashi and Kurenai were escorting two ninja, along with a few ANBU just to make sure they didn't escape. All the self-righteous fury seemed to the leave the Hokage like air leaving an inflated balloon.

"…oh. My apologies, Kotetsu." He gulped and retreated to his post outside as she straightened her green-colored robes and took the seat behind her desk. "So. It seems you actually have retrieved Hyuuga Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke."

"That's correct. Permission to gather the specialists needed to prove their identities, Hokage-sama."

"Permission granted, Asuma. All three of you go. The ANBU can handle things from here." The jounin nodded at her before vanishing. Tsunade turned her sharp brown eyes towards the pale-skinned pair in front of her. The ANBU had already bound them each to a chair with special techniques that did not allow for escape. Tsunade's fingers arched into a steeple and she raised an eyebrow at the two of them.

"This is quite the odd coincidence. Two of Konoha's missing nin showing up together; same year in the Academy; both important to the same people…

"Naturally, I can't just let you waltz in here. Your identities have to be confirmed. Tests will be performed." No signs of nervousness. They could be the real deal, or very good liars. "Any objections?" _Not that they'll matter._

They shook their heads negatively.

"Good." A tall, spindly-looking man walked in at that moment holding a few odd-looking tools and a computer. One particularly pointy-looking gizmo glinted ominously in the bright light of the office. Sasuke and Hinata exchanged a glance while the Hokage smirked.

"Then let the testing commence."

-

Hinata and Sasuke were equally exhausted. They had been poked and prodded for nearly four hours by various people with various pointy objects, various "psychic" abilities, and subjected the occasional polygraph test and neither was very happy about it. Not to mention that Hinata was feeling slightly nervous, after several furtive conversations between the Hokage and the examiners.

"Excellent so far. You've passed all tests with flying colors," said Tsunade. "However, there is one more. This one has never failed me yet."

Inuzuka Hana opened the door, a huge, white dog in tow. It was definitely big enough to ride on. Her face, rather than being (as Hinata remembered when she had met Kiba's immediate family) grinning fiercely as it usually did, was blank, much like Sasuke's own.

Hana gave it some kind of wordless command and it walked towards the two bound shinobi, sniffing ferociously first at Sasuke, who bore it well. Hinata was next, and it took extra time sniffing her out. It especially found her stomach interesting, which made her very self-conscience. When it was done, it did something that surprised her. Putting its front paws on the arm of the chair, it reached up and licked her face.

"Down, Akamaru," said Hana, but she was smiling. Hinata looked at the dog, gaping. That was her little Akamaru? Tsunade was smiling as well, though to a lesser extent.

"Congratulations. You both pass. Welcome home."

Their bonds were released and the ANBU stepped back. However, they did choose to stay in the room.

Sasuke stood up and rubbed the circulation back into his wrists while Hinata immediately bent down and started petting the hulking dog. He barked happily.

"Good boy!" said Hinata, smiling softly. "Kiba's okay, right?" Akamaru barked an affirmative. "Good. Now... get him!"

He leapt upon the Sasuke and licked his face until it shone with dog slobber. The Uchiha lay prone on the floor for a few moments, barely stirring aside from the random twitch.

"I hope you're not dead… I just got back home. I don't want to be locked up for homicide."

"Serve you right, wouldn't it…"

"We have much to discuss," interrupted the Hokage suddenly. "Especially you, Miss Hyuuga. I'm still not quite sure you are who you say you are, especially if what all the chakra specialist told me is true." All the humor fled from Hinata's face as she nodded solemnly.

The Hokage inclined her head at Sasuke.

"You. What happened after your escape from Orochimaru?"

Sasuke smiled bitterly. "It wasn't an escape. I was captured. By Kumogakure shinobi."

"What do they have to do with anything?"

Hinata smiled as well, albeit acrimoniously. "If I may interrupt, they've got to do with everything."

"Explain." Hinata took a deep breath. Reliving her experiences at that place was not something she was looking forward to. Akamaru slipped his head under her hand and whined.

"Well, it was them who convinced me to go to Kumogakure. And they captured Sasuke from Orochimaru. They have a religion there; it's a form of weather worship. They believe that Solis, the sun, is the supreme ruler of the heavens and earth. They also believe that, because it is always cloudy in Kumogakure, that the world is in a time of great moral distress, and that it is their job to fix it."

"So they're zealots."

"Yes, the majority. The Raikage, however, is a different story. He knows what a load of BS it all is. Besides being the most powerful ninja in the village, he pretends to be their divine vessel from Solis. He propagates their beliefs, blowing them out of proportion. Where there was once a healthy –"

"- And sane –"

"– population, there is now an army of extremists, waiting to spread the faith."

"I see. Now tell me what this has to do with you two."

"I can explain that one," Sasuke said. "The people of Kumo believe that defacing the human body with seals is a great moral evil. For years, they've been trying to get a hold of live Branch house Hyuuga members to experiment on, trying to remove the seal 'in the name of Solis'. In my case, they'd been carting away Curse Seal-bearers for years from Orochimaru, with his willing consent, for the same reason. That's the only reason they allied with him. He gave them a steady supply of test subjects. A means to their end, basically."

Tsunade smirked. "I'm betting he didn't like it too much when they took you."

"No, I don't imagine he did, especially when it was within a year of when he was supposed to inhabit my body. I think that's when he sent troops out to every shinobi nation, looking for me."

"I remember that," she said, leaning back in her chair and reminiscing. "They were quite aggressive. He seemed to think that Konoha was responsible for your disappearance."

"He never had any idea I was in Kumogakure. He probably still doesn't know where I was at that time. However, he probably did know where I was before I was brought back here by Kakashi."

"So he _probably_ knows that you're here now."

"Yes. But what he doesn't know is that my seal was removed."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Well, the Cloud is good for one thing – seal removal." The Hokage's questioning gaze moved to Hinata's still-covered forehead, and she nodded.

"To tell you the truth, we'd rather keep all this under wraps," Hinata said. "So if we could just keep this between us, I'd appreciate that. Not to mention that our experiences there weren't exactly pleasant." Akamaru whined again from her side and pressed his cold, wet nose against her neck. She smiled grimly at nothing in particular, eyes closed.

"What –"

"A serial number," Sasuke said quietly. He turned around and lifted his ponytail away from his neck. The Godaime leaned closer, squinting.

The letter-number combination YZ163864429 had been burned onto the back of his neck, as cattle would be branded. The numbers, though fading, were still prominent.

"The YZ refers to my cell block. 1-6-3-8-6 refers to the numbered ID code of the doctors who worked on me. Nobody goes by name. 4-4-2-9 is my number. Every project there has one."

"Yes, me as well," said Hinata at Tsunade's questioning look. She nervously fingered the area around her neck but did not get up.

"How bad was it, exactly? What did they do?"

"…most of the time, nobody was in pain. It was observation. But when…_tests _were conducted, they were excruciating. Afterwards, they would put you in an Environment Cube, which was basically like an eight by eight foot box that you lived in. It had all the necessary facilities for survival and it was furnished like a regular bedroom or apartment would be… but you were under constant surveillance to see how the test affected you in daily life, if it caused any pain or debilitated you in any way. Depending on how you…functioned, they would modify the next test."

"It was all very sterile," said Sasuke, eyes far away. "Unnaturally clean."

"It was torture," Hinata added, eyes paling with dark nostalgia. "You would sit and wait in your little box, waiting for the next time they'd haul you out again for another round. To keep us sane, they had routine mental health tests and things to amuse us."

"I wasn't in for as long as Hinata was. I was still being defiant and pissed off while she planned the entire escape. Completely idiot-proof. Maybe even Naruto-proof."

"I doubt that," said Hinata wryly. The Hokage smirked.

"But it was pretty thorough."

"I guess that's what happens when you plan something for two and half years."

"But still. That was… amazing."

"Sasuke, I know the mind of a woman is a hard thing for you to comprehend… but that's just what we do. We're amazing. In fact, we even put up with men. Isn't _that _amazing?"

"You know what? That's what happens every time I try to give you a compliment. You spit in my face."

"I'm sorry if I hurt your fragile ego. It won't happen again unless you commit yet another unutterably stupid act."

"Don't you have anything to add? You know, like 'which shouldn't be too soon' or 'as we know, those aren't too few and far between when it comes to you, Sasuke'?"

"I was going to, but why do I need to when you do it for me?"

"… I hate you."

"Don't lie to yourself. It's a horrible cycle."

Sasuke sat and sulked. Hinata smiled peaceably. Tsunade had already deduced that their wordplay was a diversion from the somewhat untouchable topic of their stay at the Cloud. _Naturally, they don't want to talk about it. I certainly don't blame them._

"So, what exactly did this amazing plan encompass?"

"Naturally, I was the tiniest bit upset at my imprisonment," said Hinata, examining her polished nails nonchalantly. "So, my plan was essentially my revenge. There was no killing involved, but it was pretty – well, let's be honest here. It was pretty bitchy.

"Anyway, I made it so that I took all of their important documents, freed everyone in my cell block, and prevented the scientists there from getting help to reel us back in. I also had to make sure that we escaped without notice, which was difficult, but doable. It was maybe a week before they realized that we were gone."

"Sent out search parties like mad," Sasuke said, reminiscing again. "They were mainly targeting us, I think. We were the two most prominent people there." His sarcasm was palpable. "Cell block royalty."

"But they never caught up, at least to us," finished Hinata. "Then we were basically roaming, until Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei picked us up."

"Basically roaming?" asked the Hokage, eyebrow raised. "What about your little visitor?"

Hinata, reverting back to her younger ways, slunk down in her seat, eyes concentrated on the floor. She almost began to fiddle with her fingers before Sasuke slapped his hand smartly on her own. She shot up, annoyance in her eyes.

"You're not twelve anymore. Don't act like it."

Sighing, she sat back up in her seat and firmly linked her fingers together. "It was… only about a few months after we escaped that I met the jinchuuriki of the Five-Tailed Demon Dog, the Gobi no Hoko. Her name was Mansamusa Kioko."

"That famous healer girl?"

"Yes. However famous she was, though, she was a terror of a girl. Spoiled to the core by both her parents, gifted with their genius daughter; swelled in the head because of her skill; and worst of all, uncaring of how her actions affected others. I couldn't stand her, to tell you the truth."

"Sounds easy enough," muttered Tsunade. And for a while, people had been calling this girl the next Tsunade? The Hokage snorted in her head. _Please. _

"In later years, she realized her parents only kept her around because she brought in the money – people came from far and wide to get treated by Kioko. But secretly, they hated her, because she was the jailer of the Gobi. Because of that, not only was the spoiled, arrogant, and oblivious of the pains of others, she was also bitter. She was twenty-five when she hired me and Sasuke as bodyguards in the temple where she lived and worked. The monks there did her every bidding; they were at her beck and call, convinced of her righteousness, despite the atrocious way she acted. It sickened me, especially after what happened in Kumo. We… argued."

"I think 'attempted to beat each other to death with words' is a more apt phrase for that particular situation."

"Shut up, Sasuke. After that, we were always at each other's throats at any given opportunity. I think it's safe to say we loathed each other at first. But there was mutual respect there." Hinata smiled. "It was almost like a routine, fighting with her. Her attitude improved a lot. But soon Kioko was being targeted by different people for different reasons. The temple was attacked.

"This ambush was completely unexpected. They beat us into the inner rooms of the temple. Sasuke and I had been separated; a huge shuriken had pinned me to the wall. I was severely injured. Kio was hit next. She took me down from the wall, despite the wound in her side. She started healing me. That's when it happened." Hinata hesitated slightly in her narration. "The Gobi… _jumped_ from her into me."

"It did WHAT?"

"I know. I didn't believe it myself at first. I certainly wasn't born with a demon inside me." Hinata took a deep breath. "The enormous output of energy sapped any life-chakra Kioko had left. She died."

"_You are… a much worthier person than I… y-you can use that damn demon to help people, l-like your Naruto-kun… never become like me…"_

"_K-kio…"_

"_Hush… tell m-my f-father… I s-still… l-l-l…"_

Hinata shut her eyes slowly.

"Is that _allowed_?"

"It was sort of a one in a million thing. You probably won't believe me..." Hinata grinned sheepishly. "One of the ancestors on my mother's side of my family did her a favor. My great-great-great-great-great-great-great - well, a great grandmother of mine did Gobi no Hoko a favor. So I got on her good side I guess."

"Huh, what are the chances… how did that change you? Your fighting abilities, your attitude… Besides the obvious, 'I now had a demon in me' answer."

Hinata continued to smile, obviously a little more comfortable and forthcoming with this topic. "The Five Tails is the demon dog. I immediately had better hearing and smell, though my eyesight stays the same for the most part. Each of the five tails controls an element – fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning. I had immediately mastery over all of any jutsu of those elements. I don't even need hand seals and it only takes me about one fourth as much chakra as a normal person, out of my own personal chakra supply, to use those jutsu. Not to mention that because I work more as a partner with my bijuu than as a vessel, I am able to more easily control both our chakra. She gives me tips."

"She?"

"The bijuu have gender," said Hinata, smirking a bit when she heard a rudely-phrased grumble in the back of her mind. "Most are male, but a couple are female, like the Nibi no Nekomata, the two-tailed demon cat or my own Gobi. They also have names; those things that we call them are more like… titles, like I might call you Hokage-sama, when your name is Tsunade." Tsunade nodded, still stunned at the new information.

"On other jinchuuriki, there is physical evidence of their particular bijuu on them. For instance, the Kazekage of Sunagakure, Gaara no Sabaku, has black-rimmed eyes, resembling the tanuki-like Shukaku."

"Ah, another benefit of my precise chakra control. There _is _physical evidence of my bijuu – it's just a different manifestation, because I can manage how I use the chakra. For instance, my hair grows very quickly and easily, and is much stronger than a normal person's hair. My nails and teeth are much more durable than someone without a bijuu. However, I can't control it completely. I have a little fang action in my mouth, but it's hard to spot, usually."

"Fascinating," murmured the Hokage. "That's absolutely amazing. I can hardly believe it, but the tests don't lie. It seems so against everything I've been taught about bijuu."

Hinata looked at Tsunade knowingly. "You mean the whole 'bloodthirsty killers' issue? Yes, they can get a little territorial. But the bijuu aren't stupid. There's a reason for everything they do. These are hundreds upon thousands of years old creatures. Eons old. Everything they do is calculated and well-thought out. Even revenge."

"Are you telling me that the Kyuubi had groundsfor attacking this village?" It was still a sensitive subject for many of the population. She should know, having endured many complaints about the "Kyuubi" – Naruto. Hinata looked at her evenly.

"The Kyuubi, being the most powerful tailed beast, is also the oldest and one of the wisest. Obviously, something that upset or otherwise offended him was tied to this village. Whether someone here was responsible or not, we may never know and I'm not saying it's justified, by any stretch; but the fact is, he probably did have a reason." Hinata thought of telling this story to the Hyuuga Clan Council. Smiling sardonically to herself, she agreed that she had also contemplated her imminent demise at one point or another.

"That's quite an argument you have there, Miss Hyuuga. I'd like to see you take it to the Village Elders." Hinata winced as Tsunade smirked.

"I'd rather not if it's all the same to you, O wise Hokage. I don't need the whole torches and pitchforks routine."

-

Sakura was worried about Naruto.

No longer was he the bumbling and good-meaning idiot of youth, but a cold, machine-like man. In some ways, she was reminded of Sasuke; however, his behavior was not in any way attractive as Sasuke's mysteriousness had been in her youth, but rather repulsive coming from her blonde teammate. He seemed so cut off from the world around him. He rarely opened up to anyone, even her or Kakashi. He was always surly and noncommittal, refusing help and company. Rather than happen in a flash, it seemed to creep in over the years, which made it almost impossible to pinpoint the cause.

_Unless it's the obvious one, _thought Sakura. _Sasuke. _

When their teammate had left for Orochimaru, Naruto had been the most affected. He had been the one had failed in the final attempt. Hyuuga Hinata, a girl in their year, had also disappeared before the Chuunin exam finals, but Sakura was doubtful she related to her teammate's problem. Naruto had barely paid any attention to the girl, no matter how obvious her huge crush on him was.

"Sakura, you alright?" asked Naruto, voice apathetic. She jumped slightly as his voice broke her thought bubble and forced a weak smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Should we get going? We'll reach home soon if we go a little faster."

"Sure." The rest of the Rookie Nine nodded wearily from behind. Home was not far off.

Unfortunately for them, bad news was waiting at the gates of their hometown. Kakashi and Kurenai met them a few steps from Konoha's north wall.

"Just got some news," said Kakashi, voice blank.

"A fully-fledged Otogakure patrol is lurking a few kilometers from the East Gate," supplied Kurenai. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but…"

"You're short a jounin or two, and could we please go wrap the situation up?" asked Kiba, head hanging with disappointment, exhaustion, and a resigned air. Kurenai simply smiled at him with empathy. "Well…" The Inuzuka moaned.

"Awww maaaaaaan…"

"Troublesome," murmured Shikamaru, looking at their former mentors with slight suspicion. Something seemed off. "Quiet, Kiba. Let's go." The seven nodded to one another before taking off, leaving no trace that they had ever been there. Kurenai suddenly smirked.

"I wish they'd let me finish…"

"Is baiting them like that really necessary?"

"No, but it sure is fun." Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly.

"Can't argue with that."

-

The Oto squad was a group with a serious mission: retrieve Uchiha Sasuke to the Sound Village at any cost necessary. What they didn't know was that they were simply a lure to ensnare the Uchiha and confirm his presence in the village.

They had just done that, with an added bonus: the Hyuuga girl. Patrol Captain Kudo was convinced that these two would be an easy catch. He had seen them in action – fought against them, actually, before he had joined the Sound village, when they were both about fifteen and fresh out of Kumogakure. He grinned confidently.

"Why, Kudo-san! I haven't seen you in a while!" called Hinata jovially as she emerged from the forest with a graceful jump. Sasuke soon followed, looking unconcerned that they were outnumbered more than one to ten. Kudo managed a smile back at her, slightly unnerved. This was their amazing defending force? The two people they were sent to capture? Either they were very stupid, or very… different from when they last fought. He hoped it was the former – no, he _knew _it was the former. Nobody could stand up to a full squad of Sound shinobi with only two people. He began to hiss orders to his underlings without looking away from the two people across from him.

"We're doing a pincer movement – Tasaki, you take half, and Musou, you take the other half – and we'll surround them. I want two of you to –"

A kunai buried itself in the ground by his feet. In the second he stared at the kunai, Sasuke and Hinata were on the move, among them like a pair of wolves among helpless lambs. In a number of moments, half the patrol had been wiped out, dead by kunai moving faster than the eye could see; a good number had been wounded beyond fighting effectively and three had been trussed up with steel-braided rope. Kudo watched the devastation around him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

"Quite a few things have changed, Kudo-san. We are no longer the children you encountered," said Hinata in the same quietly cheerful voice. With a clean blow to his temple, Kudo crumpled to the ground, senseless. The "Shadow Siblings" exchanged a glance.

"Easy," said Sasuke.

"Too easy," agreed Hinata. Stretching, she began to turn around. "It was just a bait patrol… I think we sh – should… we… I…"

Naruto was staring straight at her.

* * *

So, what do you think? I had to get all that history crap out of the way, so now we can get onto the present action and character development. Mistakes? Spelling/grammar/characterization/storyline good-bad-confusing? C'mon people, tell me!

And next chapter: Reuniting the Rookie Nine.

-FPC


	3. 02: In Which They Meet Again

* * *

**Prodigals**

Chapter 02

_In Which They Meet Again _

* * *

_The "Shadow Siblings" exchanged a glance. _

"_Easy," said Sasuke. _

"_Too easy," agreed Hinata. Stretching, she began to turn around. "It was just a bait patrol… I think we sh – should… we… I…" _

_Naruto was staring straight at her. _

"I…I…u-um…"

Hinata continued to stutter quietly, transfixed by Naruto's intense sky-blue gaze.

"Hinata," said Sasuke sharply. She blinked slowly a few times before looking at him.

"…wha…? Oh. Sorry."

"Don't start apologizing for everything again like you used to. I'm in no mood, especially not with them here."

"I think you'll be fine with Naruto-kun and Sakura-san. Don't worry too much."

The cold look, however, did not leave his face.

Hinata refused to meet Naruto's eyes, instead concentrating on the ground. Not only was Naruto-kun here, but her team as well. She had made her amends with Kurenai – in fact, they had been sharing her apartment since the Hyuuga's return to the village a week ago – but Hinata was not quite sure how Kiba and Shino would react to her being back.

"**_WOOF!_**"

"Eeee_EEH!_" squeaked the pale woman shrilly as a hulking white dog leapt upon her. Akamaru began to lick her face enthusiastically and repeatedly, until she managed to push his weight off her chest. "Ick! Akamaru, my face is all covered with doggie kisses! And you really need to do something about that breath if you're going to go around giving doggie kisses! Are you listening to me, mister?" There was a nearly unnoticeable, but very much real, twitch developing on Sasuke's eyebrow as he heard Hinata talking in a baby voice to dog she could literally ride on.

"Woof!" he barked happily to Kiba, who was staring at Hinata as well. Instead of being piercing, his gaze was disbelieving.

"There's no way…" he murmured to himself. "That's just… impossible…" He watched as the supposed Hinata-impostor bent down and whispered something to Akamaru. He barked it across the clearing and Kiba's eyes narrowed.

"She has a WHAT?! …Well, you're wrong Akamaru! That just can't be Hinata! …what do you mean, what do I mean? I mean that's not her! … Of course I'm sure! That doesn't smell like her at all, you dummy… "

"Hinata."

She gasped. "Shino-kun!" He had taken the opportunity to quietly slip over while everyone else was staring. A billowing black jacket hung down to his ankles and its hood obscured most of his face. He nodded.

"It is good to have you back, though I still have trouble grasping the fact that you left me alone with Kiba."

Hinata grinned shyly at Shino's dry humor. "It's good to see you too, Shino-kun." Then she pulled him into an enthusiastic hug which, albeit surprised, he returned. Sakura was the next to venture over, voice tentative.

"Sasuke… are you really… I mean, _really_ really… ?"

He nodded once. She smiled.

"Good."

Hinata, who was conversing with Shino quietly, didn't notice Ino until it was too late. The blonde pounced on the smaller woman, squeezing her like a stuffed animal. "Hinata-chan, look at you, you're sooooooo cute!"

"A-ah, thank you, Ino-san…" said Hinata weakly, gasping for breath. Her assaulter seemed to realize this.

"Sorry 'bout that - Just got a little excited about seeing you again." Ino's voice suddenly gained the tough tone of a drill sergeant. "Shikmaru! Chouji! Say hi!"

"Hey, Hinata-san."

"Hm… bothersome…"

"SHIKA!"

"_Hi."_

"Hello, Shikamaru-san, Chouji-san…"

"Great to have you back, Hinata!" said Sakura, looking more cheerful than Ino had seen her in years.

"Isn't she just adorable, Sakura?" Ino cooed. "She's just the cutest thing ever!"

"Quit it, Yamanaka, you're smothering my teammate."

Hinata smiled happily. "Kiba-kun."

He scuffed the ground, shamefaced. "Sorry I didn't believe you earlier… "

"That's fine. Believe it or not, I've had that reaction before."

Kiba looked at Hinata. Hinata looked at Kiba. He coughed.

"So… we good?"

"Um… yes, I think so."

"Good." Without warning he dragged her into a half-hug, ruffling her hair fondly. "I missed you, Hinata-chan! Lemme tell you, things were reallllly awkward during practice without you…"

"But you still haven't told us the whole story," Shino cut in.

She laughed nervously. "Well, yes, about that, um, not everything has been declassified by Tsunade-sama yet and I mean Sasuke really _should _be with me when I do explain…"

She glanced over and finally saw the peculiar silence occurring between Naruto and Sasuke. Everyone else stopped to stare.

Both of them wore inexpressive masks, devoid of any emotion. Though he didn't show it, Sasuke was surprised Naruto had mastered this art while he was away.

Suddenly, Naruto grinned his good old-fashioned foxy grin, much to the surprise of everybody, and clapped him across the back.

"Good to have you back, ya bastard!" Sasuke's lips only lifted up a tiny bit, but the blonde noticed.

"It's good to be back, dead last."

-

The reunited Nine made their way back to the village with a new, odd rapport about them. It was as though they were all kids again, without the troubles and worries of missing nin and jounin. Hinata was back, without the stutter but still with the Ino-termed "adorability factor"; Sasuke was back, apparently reformed and here to stay for a good long time; and finally, Naruto was back, the one they had lost over the years the two had been gone. It was a new day for all of them and for the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Nobody was exactly the same, however.

Shikamaru had been promoted to lead tactician of the Leaf Village at the tender age of 17. Ino was studying under Morino Ibiki in matters of interrogation and Chouji had opened a successful Korean BBQ restaurant on the side of his ninja career with his cousin. Shino had already been promoted to the rank of special jounin and had a definite go at ANBU while Kiba quickly boasted of his accomplishment of a 5 to 1 solo mission success record. Sakura had risen in the ranks at the hospital, becoming second only to Shizune and the Hokage herself. Naruto didn't say much, instead anxiously asking the two about what they had been doing.

Hinata only smiled at him, closing her eyes serenely. Sasuke shrugged.

"The old lady classified it, didn't she?" muttered Naruto.

"Sorry to say, but true," replied Hinata. "You'll have to talk to her about it, hm?"

"Can't you guys tell me _anything?_"

Hinata bit her lip before smirking slightly. "There were some pretty interesting incidents with Sasuke…"

"Shut up."

"…But I can't seem to recall them right now! Crazy, isn't it…"

Naruto bent to whisper in Hinata's ear; but it was stage whisper clearly meant for Sasuke's ears.

"So, Hinata-chan, any of these incidents involve, say… some alcohol?" He saw her smile mischievously.

"Perhaps…"

Sakura noted that the two acted strangely close, though they hadn't seen each other in six years and weren't very close before Hinata's disappearance. She brushed it off as maturation on both their parts. Her thoughts revolved around Sasuke more often than not. Suddenly she frowned. Why were the two traveling together? Certainly they could reveal that much.

"So… why were you two with each other all this time?" asked Sakura softly. "I mean, you could have come home, right?"

"Let's just say that we were on the same page," muttered Sasuke. "For about the last three years, I guess it's been."

"Coming back to the village is so strange because I'm used to being around Sasuke all the time," Hinata added, skirting around Sakura's question. "We were always in each other's company before we came home."

"My condolences," Kiba said with a solemn face. Hinata laughed.

"You guys aren't… together or anything, are you?" asked Ino, looking with suspicious eyes at the two of them.

"No, they most certainly are _not_," said Kurenai from in front of them. She had appeared out of nowhere.

"Sensei, are you still upset?" asked Hinata with amusement.

Kakashi poofed right next to her. "We are not upset."

"You have to admit, that was pretty damn funny," Sasuke said, smirking.

"I don't know about you guys, but 'Sasuke' and 'funny' just aren't meshing for me," said Naruto as he scratched his head. The others nodded in agreement. Sasuke glowered. Naruto smirked back. "Now that's the Sasuke we know and love to despise! Or rave about, depending on your gender…"

"It all started when Iruka-sensei took us out for ramen at Ichiraku," said Hinata, smiling at the memory. "Then all the jounin started turning up – it was kind of strange. It was like a little impromptu party. Then – who was it who asked?"

"Asuma."

"Okay, right, right. So Asuma-san asks, 'why were you two traveling together, anyway?' and Sasuke says…"

"_The baby's due next spring."_

_Silence. Complete and utter silence. Genma's senbon clattered loudly to the floor. Even Gai was speechless, ramen spilling down his chin._

_Kakashi was the first to recover. "…what did you – did you just –?"_

_Hinata turned and looked at Sasuke, sighing tenderly. "Yeah…"_

"_Hinata!" Kurenai gasped. "How could you keep that from me?"_

"_Sensei, we're in love!" exclaimed the pale girl, letting a theatrically pained look crossing her features. "You act like it's a bad thing!"_

"…_w-well, it's not I g-guess, it's just a bit of a… um… a shock…__I suppose…_"

"_Great! So, if it's a girl, we've decided on –"_

"_Keiko."_

"_And if it's a boy, we'll call him –"_

"_Orochitachibutomaru."_

"_Isn't it wonderful?" cooed the Hyuuga, ignoring the stares of incredulity entirely. "And the godparents will be Orochimaru-jisan and Itachi-niisan. Oh gosh, I'm so excited…"_

_Sasuke nodded at her, allowing the corners of his lips to turn up a tiny smidge. This did not go unnoticed by anyone. Sighing contentedly once more, Hinata turned around at the counter._

"_One miso ramen, please," she ordered, heedless of the group of gaping ninjas behind her. _

_Kakashi and Kurenai exchanged a glance. _

"_Did you –"_

"_No. WAY."_

"_Then –"_

"_Don't ask me." _

_WHUMP. _

_Iruka had just fainted, falling off his chair like a dead weight. _

Naruto and Kiba were laughing raucously and even Shino cracked a grin. Sakura could only manage a weak smile, thankful beyond belief.

"I just want you to know that that moment, the one in which all of you were looking at us, believing that I was actually bearing Sasuke's child, pretty much made my year."

Kurenai scowled at her with no real venom. "That was not funny at all, young lady. I thought I had taught you better."

"Don't be cross, sensei, it's a terribly immature of you," Hinata lectured primly. They both grinned.

"Seriously… Sasuke and I… goodness, it's like you don't think I have standards or something…"

"You know what? That was unnecessary. That was really unnecessary."

"Poor baby."

"Shut up."

-

Kurenai and Kakashi had poofed away when they reached the gates, reminding Sasuke to meet with the Hokage later that day for "the thing she needs to talk with you about." He would not elaborate when pressured by Naruto. In the silence that followed, Ino was quick to suggest they go out and party at Chouji's restaurant, Korean Barbeque Palace, a proposal that Kiba and Naruto rapidly seconded.

They had almost reached the little but intensely popular bistro. Ino and Kiba led the way, followed by Chouji, Shikmaru, Shino, Sasuke, and Sakura. Hinata found herself drifting towards the back.

"I do not smell like wet dog, Ino!"

"Ya do too! I'm sure anyone without heightened senses like yours can smell that! C'mon, guys, hasn't he always been this way?"

"Well…"

"Er…"

"…"

"…troublesome…"

"…how far to the restaurant?"

Kiba glowered. "Thanks for the moral support, really appreciate it."

"Anytime," Shino shot back at him. Unseen by either of them, Hinata was smiling, simply enjoying seeing both of them again. She slowly began to lag behind, nostalgia catching up with her as she matched pace with Naruto unknowingly. She watched as almost everyone filtered into the restaurant.

Out of nowhere, Naruto tugged sharply on her wrist, turning her around.

"Hey." He looked down into her eyes with a dead serious look on his face and pulled her into an embrace. Hinata could only stand there in shock, her head resting against his chest.

"U-um…" Naruto smelled very much like ramen noodles and something rather earthy and masculine that was simply his. Hinata felt a blush creeping up onto her cheeks and willed it away.

"I'm glad you're back, Hinata. I missed you," he whispered into her ear. _Naruto, stop it this instance! This is distracting and completely uncalled for! _

…_and yet, very pleasant. _

"Yeah," she replied, a little breathless for no particular reason as he pulled away. His eyes were very blue, she noted, and went very well his current foxy grin. "Um, shall we go inside?"

"You betcha."

* * *

Hmmm, can _you _guess what the main pairing is? I am having such trouble deciding… (smirk) 

Anyway... no plot whatsoever. But we'll get to that later. Next chapter: how Sasuke and Hinata regain their status as Konoha shinobi.

Thanks for all those sweet reviews, guys! Happy Singles Awareness Day. e-Hugs!

-FPC


	4. 03: Party All The Time

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

Chapter 03

_Party All The Time_  
or  
_In Which Sasuke Is Embarrassed and Naruto Is Possessive  
_

* * *

It had been about a week since the Rookie Nine's little reunion at Korean Barbeque Palace and already Sasuke had transformed into his reclusive prepubescent self. Naruto and Sakura were unable to locate even simple traces of his chakra signature. They had checked everywhere: the training grounds, his apartment, the training grounds, Kakashi's apartment, the training grounds, the old Uchiha compound, the training grounds… 

"Where could he be?" murmured Sakura to herself. She was not feeling very confident; if he was this withdrawn after only a few short days in Konohagakure, maybe he was planning to do something – rash. But he had seemed so open with Hinata… but maybe that was it. Maybe there really was something going on.

Mentally smacking herself, Sakura shook her head. _I haven't seen the boy - I mean, __**really**__ seen him - in years, and I fall to pieces when he shows the slightest sign of unhappiness? Ridiculous! I'm a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf, damn it! _

"No worries, Sakura-chan! We'll find him, don't even worry about it." One thing had reverted for the better – Naruto's attitude. He was his old cheerful self again. Sakura smiled at him.

"You're right, we – hey, is that Hinata-chan?"

Naruto's electric blue eyes lit up immediately as he swiveled his head to where Sakura had pointed. "It is indeed!" He disappeared with a tiny pop. Sakura watched from a distance as he snuck up behind Hinata and made her jump a foot in the air.

"Naruto-kun! You shouldn't do that," she groaned, placing a hand over her erratic heartbeat. "I'm not used to being snuck up on…" On the inside, she was amazed. She really hadn't sensed him at all.

"I know you've been gone for a while, but you should know that Konoha's Number One Unpredictable Ninja… loves to torture the people in his hometown the most! I – OUCH! Sakura-chaaaaaaaaaan…"

"You idiot! That was so rude!" Turning to Hinata, Sakura's demeanor changed immediately. Flashing the Hyuuga a bright smile, she apologized for Naruto. "Sorry about him – guess some things never change, right? Anyway, Hinata-chan, Naruto and I were just wondering if you knew where Sasuke might be."

"I'm a little shocked he hasn't told you… well, maybe not completely."

"What? What is it?"

Hinata tapped her chin. "Hmm... how to put this… Okay. As I'm sure you're aware, we did not get off scot-free for abandoning the village. We both got punished, but Sasuke got the worst of it, because he ran off to Orochimaru, our number one enemy. And, well, part of his punishment…"

-

"No. Way." Naruto was gaping, open-mouthed. This was simply impossible. Sakura was speechless, a glazed look on her face.

"I'd have to say that Tsunade-sama thought up the most demeaning punishment," said Hinata lightly, an amused lilt to her voice.

The three were looking into the open window of Iruka-sensei's room in the Academy, watching as Sasuke recited basic hand seals with ten-year-olds. He was glancing at them every so often and every time he did, his scowl deepened.

"He's stuck there every day until lunch, and then he gets a mental health check up from the Hokage once a week, as ordered by the Elders. After that, he's free to do his own thing. I suspect he's been avoiding you so he wouldn't have to talk about it."

"Same old, same old," muttered Naruto, grinning at Sasuke and waving cheerily.

"Hinata-chan, what else do you have to do?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Well… even though Hokage-sama knows we're well above chuunin-level, she's making us take the Chuunin Exam. She says we're going to pass no matter what… but we still have to go through with it. That was definitely a blow, knowing our skills but not acknowledging them. Also, we can only get certain missions… namely, ones that wouldn't give us the chance to compromise our loyalties. But believe me…" Hinata's eyes became glazed and faraway, losing the warm glow that made her so much more approachable than other Hyuuga.

"Our loyalties lie in one place only – Konohagakure no Sato."

Naruto grinned, though it was a little more toned down than normal. "Good to know, good to know," he said without a hint of insincerity or doubt.

Her face lightened as his subtle excusal of whatever might have happened to her in the past six years. She was about to respond when they heard a dull ringing sound.

"That's the lunch bell," said Hinata. "Iruka-sensei lets him leave then, so he's probably –"

There was a slight, almost inaudible whoosh. When Sakura looked back in the classroom, Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

"– already gone."

* * *

Sakura was smiling sympathetically. 

Hinata was looking sheepish.

Naruto was grinning amusedly.

Sasuke couldn't look at any of them; instead, he scowled off into the distance.

"You know, Sasuke-kun," Sakura began, attempting to placate him. "You could have told us."

"Hn."

Naruto had a hand stuffed in his mouth, desperately trying to muffle his laughter. Sasuke's classic stone-cold glare did not deter his behavior in the slightest.

"Sasuke, they would've found out sooner or later," Hinata said. "Don't pout."

"I do _not _pout."

"You _so_ do."

"Not."

"So."

"Not."

"So – like a spoiled child."

"I am _NOT _a spoiled child!" Sasuke hissed loudly, turning away from her and crossing his arms over his chest, looking very much like a spoiled child.

"Hey, Hinata-san, Sasuke-san!"

A boy was running toward them, waving excitedly. He had an average build for a sixteen-year-old boy. Though his brown hair and eyes were fairly unremarkable, the boyish sweetness of his face made him stand out against the other teenage boys in the crowded Konoha road.

Hinata smiled and waved back. "Hello, Shige-kun," she said when the boy drew closer. A tiny pink tinge appeared on his face but Hinata didn't notice. Somebody else did.

"Hi," Shige said, with a tiny, embarrassed squeak to his voice. After letting his gaze linger a little too long on Hinata, he turned to Sasuke with a smile, which soon drooped. "Err… is something wrong, Sasuke-san?"

"No," answered the Avenger coolly. "What do you want, Tatsuoki?"

"Um, well, I've been looking all over for you both!" said Shige, looking a little nervous again. "The Hokage has to talk with us about the Chuunin Exam."

"What about?"

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me. I'm really worried. What if she doesn't let us compete or something?"

"Don't worry so much, Shige-kun. I'm sure it's nothing like that," Hinata reassured him kindly. He looked at her devotedly. "Of course you're right, Hinata-san…" he sighed, almost dreamily.

"Hey Hinata-chan, you never introduced us!" Naruto said suddenly, stressing the –chan suffix as he threw an arm around her shoulders and leaned his face down so that their cheeks almost brushed. Hinata's face pinked accordingly. The blonde jinchuuriki stared down at the younger boy with a smile on his face that didn't reach his eyes. Shige withered.

"A-ah, so sorry Naruto-kun. Shige-kun, this is Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura, Sasuke's original teammates. Naruto-kun, Sakura-san, this is Tatsuoki Shigeruki, Shige for short. He's our teammate for the upcoming exam."

"That's nice," said Sakura. She was clearly amused by Naruto's behavior. "What happened to your team, Shige-kun?"

"Um, first our sensei, Akimichi Choumi, decided that she wanted to open a Korean barbeque restaurant and stop being a ninja; after we got a new teacher, Taro, one of my teammates, got severely injured on a mission, and decided he didn't want to be a ninja anymore either. Anda-chan already made it on to chuunin level." He was clearly dejected.

"Oh, Shige-kun, don't worry about it. It's good that you're showing perseverance; that's one of the key aspects of a shinobi's lifestyle," Sakura said supportively. He seemed to cheer up a bit.

"Thank you, Haruno-san! We should probably go see the Hokage now, though; she sent me to find you two a couple hours ago."

"Uh oh," said Naruto, looking at Hinata knowingly. She turned her head to listen to him and their faces were almost touching.

"You better get going. Nobody keeps granny waiting for long."

"Not even Kakashi-sensei - mostly," Sakura added. Hinata nodded. "See you guys around."

"See you around, Hinata-chan!" Sakura elbowed him hard in the stomach.

"Oh, uh, and you too, teme!"

-

Shige couldn't help but fidget, even though both Sasuke and Hinata were as still as stones.

_How can they be so calm?! I mean, she's the GODAIME HOKAGE! Being personally called to her office either means you've done something really good or really bad… and with my old team's luck… _

But as it turned out, it had been neither really good nor really bad – it was simply necessary and urgent.

"_Shigeruki, we've got an important matter to discuss with you," Tsunade began solemnly. "If you were not already aware, Hinata and Sasuke are former missing-nin of the village." _

_The boy turned to gape at Sasuke and then Hinata. They chose to continue to focus on the Hokage. _

"_They are in the middle of their repentance, and part of that repentance is participation in the Chuunin Exam later this week. However, both of them are high-profile ninja, with very powerful enemies. It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if some of their enemies attempted to infiltrate the exam."_

_Shige found his throat was suddenly very dry and he fought the urge to swallow. The three experienced ninja in front of and next to him watched as his face went pale. _

"_I'm sure that you've figured out by now that puts your life directly in danger. I'll understand if you wish to drop out."_

"_WHAT? No way, Hokage-sama! I've worked too hard to get where I am right now! I can do it!" _

Yesterday, during the written exam, he had felt super confident; but now, Shige was very close to eating his words as he stood outside the Forest of Death. Signing a death waiver usually wasn't the most reassuring to do, in any case.

"Shige-kun, you look so worried. Honestly, this was the easiest part of the exam for my team when we were twelve. It shouldn't be any trouble at all for us now."

Sasuke snorted. Hinata rolled her eyes. "The odds were against Team 7, however. But I'm sure that if Orochimaru hadn't been after them, they would've passed more easily."

"Orochimaru?" asked Shige, wide-eyed.

"When the Hokage said we were 'high profile', she meant it," said Sasuke, a smirk playing about his lips.

"On your mark," Anko yelled, her voice echoing around the contestants. "Get set…."

Hinata and Sasuke exchanged a glance. They would be letting Shigeruki lead them through the forest; it would be more of a learning exercise for him than either of them.

"GO!"

-

They had made it to the Tower in a record half hour. Shige had, though nervously, thought up a passably clever plan once Hinata had located a team from which to pilfer a heaven scroll. The rest had just been straight running back to the Tower and avoiding the subsequent obstacles. Upon reaching the tower, they had opened the scroll and Iruka had explained to them (really, to Shige) about the purpose of the last test before wishing them then luck and poof-ing away.

A bored-looking Anko was sitting at a desk in the receiving hallway of the Tower, twirling a kunai between her fingers lazily. She wasn't due for a patrol for another half hour. When she caught sight of the three of them, however, she toppled over ungracefully.

"What the – how the hell did you finish?!" she exclaimed, staring at them. "The exam only started forty five minutes ago!"

Hinata smiled serenely; Shige scratched his head nervously; and Sasuke made a 'pfft' noise and looked away.

"Ugh," said the exuberant kunoichi. "_Kids_. Well, I guess you're hanging out here for the next, oh, five days. There are many rooms where you can recuperate, but pick one room and _stay _there. I don't mediate fights, got it?"

"Of course, Mitarashi-san," Hinata said finally, as her teammates were unable/didn't want to form coherent sentences around Anko. "Thank you for your help."

The next one hundred nineteen hours and fifteen minutes seemed excruciatingly long and boring to all three. By the time the fifth day rolled around, Sasuke had been reduced to playing twenty questions.

"Is it living?"

"Yes."

"Does it have gender?"

"Yes."

"Is it male?"

"No."

"Is she a human?"

"Yes."

"Is she a ninja?"

"Yes."

"Does she have pink hair?" Hinata threw in innocently. Sasuke glared at her.

"What did you say, Hinata-san?"

"Nothing, Shige-kun. Continue."

"Okay. Is she a medical ninja?"

"Yes."

"Is she strong?"

"…yes." Unfortunately for Sasuke, Shige was exceptionally perceptive when it came to twenty questions.

"Is she beautiful?" he asked cheekily. Sasuke's eyes widened almost unnoticeably.

"…she –"

There was a loud knock at the door. "Hey, guys!" It was Moegi. She continued to yell through the door. "We're _finally _starting – the time limit just ran out! We gotta go downstairs!"

She, Konohamaru and Udon, also known as Team 3, were competing in the Chuunin Exam as well, for a second time; because their sensei Ebisu was wary of sending them into enemy territories, he had only signed them up to compete in Konoha. As the fourteen-year-olds were now exceptionally talented (not so much as the Rookie Nine, yet), it wouldn't be long until they made it to chuunin level.

Another participant in this year's exams was Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi, who passed them in the hall on the way downstairs. The thirteen-year-old had quickly excelled, and she had graduated in the class ahead of Konohamaru's; however, Hiashi had forbidden her to compete at any chuunin exam not in Konoha, to keep her eyes safe.

Hanabi turned up her nose at her sister; Sasuke managed not to beat the girl's face in and ignored the shadows that flitted through Hinata's eyes as Hanabi snubbed her. He knew what it was like not to receive the acknowledgement of someone important to him; luckily for Sasuke, Itachi was now on his "must-kill" list and he didn't need to worry about impressing him. Hinata, however, didn't have that luxury.

The prelims flew by, once again necessary because of the number of teams that had passed the second test. All of Team 3 had made it through to the finals, much to Ebisu's delight. Only Hanabi had made it from her team; Hinata, Sasuke, and Shige had all made it through. From foreign villages came an Iwa nin, a Suna nin, and a Kumo nin.

"Congratulations," said Tsunade, dressed in her Hokage uniform. "You have braved the depths of the Forest of Death and fought your opponents totally blind. But the final portion of the exam is a bit different. A month from today, you will be competing in a tournament-style format. During this month, you will be expected to train and gather information on your opponents. Now, in order to determine who you will be fighting, we will now draw lots."

There was quiet few minutes in which they all drew numbers from a box.

"When I call you name, please state the number you drew," said Shikamaru, the jounin who had been proctoring the exam.

"Konohamaru."

"Six."

"Moegi."

"Three."

"Hinata."

"One."

"Shigeruki."

"Five."

"Nii Yuugito, of Kumogakure no Sato."

"Two."

"Sasuke."

"Nine."

"Makatsu Daichi, of Iwagakure no Sato."

"Four."

"Hanabi."

"Seven."

"Damashi Masato, of Sunagakure no Sato."

"Eight."

"Alright." Shikamaru scribbled on his notepad for a moment before clearing his throat.

"The Chuunin Exam Final matches will proceed as such: Hinata versus Yuugito; Moegi versus Daichi; Shigeruki versus Konohamaru; and Hanabi against the winner of the Masato versus Sasuke match."

Sasuke had noticed with dismay that he was had to fight an extra match. _How annoying. _When he looked to Tsunade, he saw her looking directly at him and smirking. His scowl deepened. _Damned old bat – she planned the whole thing!_

"We'll see you in a month, ladies and gentleman – prepare yourselves," said Tsunade, her smirk widening a hair as she observed the genin. With a loud crack, she and the other jounin sensei disappeared.

Shige let loose a long breath as they were dismissed, sagging in relief. "Phew! Glad that's over."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow delicately. "What are you so relaxed for?"

"I mean, that's the hard part, right? The Forest of Death? Now I've only got to fight people, you know, instead of wolverines and things."

Hinata looked at him with a slight smile. "Shige-kun… Sasuke was in the finals the first time he took the exam."

"So?"

"He trained with the Legendary Hatake Kakashi, studied obsessively, worked himself nearly to death and learned a super-powerful, near-forbidden assassination technique."

Shige was staring at her, mouth agape.

"And he _still _lost. Give that a little thought when you train this month, okay?"

-

As soon as he had heard about their successes, Naruto had organized a party for Sasuke and Hinata.

"_But Naruto-kun, we just had one a couple weeks ago…"_

"_This is a completely different celebration, Hinata-chan! We've got to celebrate all over again!"_

"_And besides," Sasuke added wryly. "Party simply means that we all go to Korean Barbeque Palace or Ichiraku and hang out." _

'Who'd thunk it? Uchiha Sasuke, party advocate.'

"_I guess…" _

Thus, Hinata found herself walking to Korean Barbeque Palace two days after the preliminaries, wearing a white halter top and denim capris with the customary white cloth wrapped around her forehead. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun; and, with a nice pair of heels, she felt she had completed the outfit.

"Hi, Naruto-kun…"

"Hey, Hina – whoa!" He looked up from where he was helping a waitress set up their table and blushed slightly. "You look good!"

She mimicked his red face threefold before shyly tucking a stray lock behind her ear. "Thanks."

"So… you excited about the exams?"

"Kind of… I mean, Tsunade-sama totally rigged them so Sasuke and I would fight in the finals. It's less fun that way."

"You know, 'fun' is not usually a term used to describe an exam where you have to sign a death waiver."

"Hey – you know what kind of a weirdo I am, Naruto-kun…"

"Not anymore." He looked at her for a minute with an expression that she couldn't read.

"I… I'm so sorry Naruto-kun, I've been standing here like an idiot while you're doing all the work! Let me – "

"Tch, don't worry about it," he said nonchalantly, looking away from her. "I'm almost done."

After a few minutes, the old Rookie Nine started to trickle in, minus Chouji, who was cooking in the back. Again, Hinata felt a certain comfort fill her like a warm drink on a winter's day. It was a nice feeling, and one she got with increasing frequency nowadays.

"Hinata-chan!" Kiba said with a grin, sliding into the seat next to her. "What's shakin'?"

"Nothing really, just waiting for you," she replied with a smile. Shino materialized out of nowhere and sat down across from them.

"I hope this baka is not bothering you, Hinata," said Shino in his famous monotone.

"What was that, Bug-boy?!"

"You heard me."

"Why I oughta – OUCH! Damn it, Ino!"

"You're ruining the evening already, idiot!"

"Troublesome woman…"

"What was that, Shikamaru?!"

"Maa, maa, Ino-chan, I'm sure that Shikamaru didn't mean it unkindly."

"That's a lie and you know it, Chouji, he _always_ means that I'm troublesome when he says it!"

"You're the one who's ruining the evening now, Ino-buta! Could you be a little louder?"

"Sorry, billboard brow, but your large forehead was taking up so much of the table I couldn't restrain my irritation…"

"WHAT?!"

Hinata smiled, giggling softly at their antics. She liked her quiet time, that much was true; but when your constant traveling companion was quiet too, well, sometimes the silence could be stifling. That, plus hearing all their voices again, made the evening quite enjoyable for Hinata -

For a while, that is.

"Mind if I crash the party?"

Standing at the head of their table was Yuugito, dressed in a short, strapless black dress that clung to her slim frame suggestively.

"Yuugito-san! Long time, no see," said Sakura, smiling kindly at the Kumo kunoichi. She smiled back tentatively.

"Tell me about it. Say, is Naruto-kun here with you by any chance?"

"Yuugito-chan? Is that you?" said Naruto's excited voice. He had returned from the bathroom and he enveloped Yuugito in a quick hug. "What are you doing here? How's life been treating you?"

"She's participating in the chuunin exam," said Shikamaru mildly. "I didn't know you knew her."

"Yeah, we had a mission where we ran into her a while back – two years ago, I think," said Sakura, tapping a finger to her chin in a thinking pose. "I'd be surprised if you didn't hear about it… she was a hostage of the Akatsuki we were hired to apprehend, and, well, you know how Naruto has a certain effect on people – even when he was so aloof…"

The others grinned knowingly while Naruto and Yuugito talked for a bit. It was painfully clear that she was infatuated with him, and her every nuance and little giggle seemed to be directed at him. Naruto, to his credit, either had absolutely no idea or was cool as a cucumber about it and didn't respond to her advances.

"You guys didn't tell me you had Yuugito-chan in the exam with you!" said Naruto with a grin, turning to Hinata and Sasuke happily. His smile faltered.

Hinata had turned away from him, her face obscured by shadow, hands clasped tightly in her lap. Sasuke's arms were crossed over his chest and his eyes were narrowed calculatingly at Yuugito, who wilted slightly under his gaze.

"Guys?" Naruto asked, a bit cautious. "Is something –"

"I'm getting a little tired," said Hinata. Her voice was cooler than ice. She stood up smoothly from her kneeling position at the low table and arranged her sitting pillow neatly. "I think I'll turn in for the night."

"Hinata-chan, what are you –"

"Good night, Naruto-san," she said stiffly, brushing his hand away. She slipped into the shadows and with a small pop, she had disappeared. Naruto looked at Sasuke. The blonde was perturbed by her behavior and by his demotion from –kun to –san.

"What –"

"I don't think you understand exactly how much she loathes Kumogakure and everybody in it," said Sasuke quietly. "It's akin to my hatred of Itachi. And she deserves that hate. More than anyone."

He stood up as well and began to walk to the exit.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked desperately.

"Damage control," Sasuke said casually. Naruto's frown deepened.

"Don't bother. We needed to talk anyway."

A tiny whirlwind covered his escape, and within seconds he had vanished as well. Sasuke strolled back to the table and set upon his barbeque politely. Everyone else was left to deal with the tension that had built uncomfortably. Yuugito looked crushed.

"Umm… who exactly is that woman to Naruto?" she asked Sakura carefully. The pink-haired woman was staring at the entrance to Korean Barbeque Palace in a way that was both amused at Naruto's overprotective streak but more so confused at Hinata's distant behavior and apparent hatred of her friend Yuugito.

"I really don't know…"

* * *

Hinata walked through the fast-emptying streets of Konohagakure angrily. 

_I thought I came home to be rid of my past, not repeat it! I can't believe she thinks she can just – she can just – waltz into my village and near my man and – _

_Whoa. My _friend_. My _friends_, plural, actually. Waltz into my village and near my __**friends **__and pretend as though she doesn't even know how completely deranged Kumogakure is! How dare she?_

Fury was pounding in her ears, but hopelessness was too.

_I will never be rid of this. My past will always haunt me, won't it?_

"Hinata!"

She turned around with surprise.

"Naruto?" she asked softly. He was standing there, looking at her with a frown on his face. He really did look handsome – with his hair flopping down in his eyes, unhindered by a forehead-protector; his black and orange jacket was unzipped slightly, leaving lean, taut skin and a mesh shirt exposed. Combined with the golden tan, sky-blue eyes, and prominent but not bulging muscles, he screamed "sex" whether he was aware of it or not. Several girls on the streets pointed and giggled. They were ignored.

"Hinata, please tell me what's wrong," he said softly, using her uncertain state to grab a hold of her hands with his own. "Please." He looked down at her pleadingly.

She sighed and looked away from him. "It's a long story to tell. One I wouldn't want to bore you with." _One I wouldn't want to relive ever again. _

"My attention span has increased a lot in the past six years," he said earnestly. "I won't be bored, and that's a promise."

"I…I-I don't really know how much I can tell you anyway," she said as she pulled her hands away and turned around. As she began to stride away, Naruto quickly caught up and walked in time with her. His sharp shinobi eyes had caught sight of something.

"Does it have anything to do with that mark on your neck?"

_The genjutsu must've come undone!_

Gasping, she quickly used both her hands to cover her neck. Hinata felt her earlier fury become misdirected at the blonde in her dread to hide her most shameful secret.

"It's none of your business!" she snarled, clearly angry and upset.

She took off again, except this time she was moving at speeds that no normal person could see. Trees, houses, people, and streetlights flew past her without notice. Panic had gotten a grip on her and she needed to get away before Naruto could see her disgrace.

When Hinata finally stopped, she took a deep breath and looked around. She chuckled darkly.

"Talk about a flashback…" _The reason I was experimented on in the first place._

She was standing in front of the Hyuuga Compound. Shaking her head, she plopped unceremoniously down on the nearest bench and buried her head in her hands.

_I hate how one little thing can put me in such a bad mood and ruin a potentially nice evening. _

_**One little skank, you mean. **_

_Basically. Don't I deserve that? One potentially nice evening or two? _

_**Of course, **_came the comforting contralto of her… partner-in-crime. She preferred to think of their relationship as that of equals as opposed to warden and prisoner, because the Five-Tails was such a wise and kind old spirit (not really even a demon, in the terms that the peoples of the Godaikoku defined "demon"). She had been like a mentor to Hinata in the past couple of years.

_**I'm sorry to report, however, that life isn't always fair. **_

_Like I need the reminder._

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin as she realized that she was not alone.

"Wha… you… um, I…"

Naruto grinned softly. "Don't rush to answer, now. I'm not going anywhere."

"H-how did you follow me?"

"You're not the only one who's improved."

Hinata bit her lip apprehensively. _What does he want to know, anyway?  
_

"I'm not asking for your life story, Hinata. I just want to know why Yuugito upsets you so much. There's also something Sasuke said…"

Hinata's ears perked up. _**What did that baka say?**_

"That your hate for Kumogakure was more deserved than anyone else's. And that it rivaled his hate for Itachi."

"That's quite the compliment coming from my Avenger," Hinata said, mouth twitching in dark amusement. Naruto scowled at the use of the possessive article.

"_Anyway,_" he said a tad too forcefully. "I would really, really… _really _like to know why. I don't want to make light of your previous – situation with Kumogakure, but back when we were genin, you didn't have this hatred for them - at least, I don't think so."

"That's because when I was a genin, I truly believed that the ninja who attempted to kidnap me and consequently ruined my life had been acting out of personal greed and selfish reasoning, not because he was ordered to by his superiors. I accepted the fact that he was not working with Cloud when he did what he did. But now… I know better. I know for a fact that he was ordered by the Yondaime Raikage himself to infiltrate Konoha under the guise of the peace treaty and kidnap me to experiment on my eyes." _Or, more accurately, research a way to prevent them from being sealed – ever. _

"Is that really the only reason?"

As usual, Naruto's natural perceptiveness was right on target. Annoyingly so.

"No."

Naruto, who was situated next to her on the bench began to inch closer, leaning towards her in anticipation. She took a deep breath.

"I – "

"_Monster." _

Naruto straightened up resentfully, hiding his quickly-growing rage under a mask of annoyance.

"Who goes?"

Hanabi slid out from the shadows. Her hate-filled stare, however, was not focused on Naruto, but Hinata. Her piercing white eyes seemed to judge her very soul. She had not changed much in six years; besides shooting up like a weed (she was almost as tall as Hinata by now when she was five years younger), her hair was still the meticulously-groomed wave of chocolate brown and her face still held the haughty superiority. Her clothes were still Hyuuga dress robes.

But, while she had never particularly liked – or disliked, for that matter – her sister, now her eyes burned with loathing when they saw the sibling who was as close to her opposite as they could get.

Hanabi would be tall and slender; Hinata was shorter, but more voluptuous. Hanabi was cold and regal; Hinata was warm and caring. Hanabi was the Hyuuga genius; Hinata was the Hyuuga failure. Hanabi was capable of hating her family; Hinata was not. This was why she looked away from her sister, shamefaced.

"Imouto," she said softly, unable to meet Hanabi's gaze. Her scowl deepened.

"Don't call me that," she hissed. "I will have no connection to you! I'm only here to deliver a message at the request of my father."

She flung an envelope made of heavy, expensive paper violently at Hinata's face. She caught it effortlessly.

"Thank you, Hyuuga-sama," Hinata said formally, bowing in respect as she stood up.

"Feh. Thank me by never coming near me again, demon."

With that final, cutting statement, she strode away, back toward the Hyuuga Compound. When Naruto glanced at Hinata, she was looking in the direction that her sister had gone, determinedly biting her lip as her eyes glistened dangerously.

"Hinata…"

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," she said. It was clearly an effort for her not to burst into tears. "But I really don't feel like talking tonight."

Naruto flinched at the look of utter misery on her face before he walked over to her and placed an arm around her shoulders.

"C'mon. I'll walk you home."

* * *

Wow, this was a long chapter. I hope I made up for the wait. 

Vocab? Ummm... **Godaikoku**: "five greats", as in countries; Konoha (leaf), Suna (sand), Iwa (stone), Kumo (cloud), and Kiri (mist). **Nii Yuugito** - that really is her last name. I was reading the chapter when Kakuzu and Hidan are trying to capture her the other day.

I welcome questions, concerns, comments and even criticism with open arms. Seriously. As long as you tell me what I did wrong (in a smart way) then I will take that into account.

**_Happy Review Awareness Day! _** What?! You've never heard of Review Awareness Day?!?!?!!? It's a special day on which the readers are supposed to take the time (after patiently reading through the chapter) to leave a review for the sad, completely unpaid author! (I get no royalties people, this is FAN-fiction.)

Well? What are you waiting for?!

FPC


	5. 04: There are three truths

**Author: **Feral Panda Chick

**Summary: **Sasuke and Hinata have finally returned to Konoha after six years away from their beloved village… but there's still work to be done. With Orochimaru and Akatsuki still on the loose, will they their happiness ever be anything but fleeting?

**Rating: **T/PG-13, to be safe. Probably for language, at some point.

**Pairings: **_NaruHina _(definite) _SasuSaku_ (possible) _SakuLee_ (possible) _NejiTen_ (definite)_ AsuKure_ (definite)

**Warnings: **None, for now.

**Other: **_**Please read the A/N at the end of the chapter.**_ The first part is just rambling, but the underlined, bold, and/or italicized parts are things I want you to pay attention to, alright?

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

Chapter 04

_"There are three truths: my truth, your truth, and the truth."_ (Chinese proverb)

* * *

_Hinata looked wistfully at the night sky through the window. It sometimes helped, knowing the people she cared about were under the same stars that she was, even though they couldn't be near. _

_The bathroom door of her hotel room was flung open abruptly. Sasuke walked out, clad in only a towel around his waist. She spared him a glance but otherwise didn't react. She had seen much more than that in the past three years. _

"_S'all yours," he muttered sullenly, looking away from her. A smile flickered about her face for a brief second. One thing hadn't changed – Sasuke was still a cold-hearted bastard. _

_Slipping into the bathroom, she let herself indulge a long shower to wash off all the grime and other unidentified substances that had made her body their home. They had been on the run for a few weeks and only yesterday had they agreed it was safe to stop. Their clothes hadn't been changed nor had they bathed since their escape, so the chance to wash up had been particularly tempting. _

_After drying off, she slipped into the black tank top and loose, knee-length shorts that they had pilfered from a store in town. Stifling a yawn, she padded out of the bathroom on quiet feet. _

_Sasuke was in the corner, his head leaning into one hand as he watched her. He had apparently decided to eschew the whole shirt thing and was sitting in just the long dark pants (also taken from a store in the village). Hinata was outwardly calm but inwardly a wreck._

_Observation. People looking at her, _staring _at her. Observation made her unbearably nervous, because for the past three years, close observation usually meant a test. And tests usually meant agonizing pain. _

"_Is something the matter?" she asked politely, turning to match his gaze. He flickered into nonexistence. _

_Her eyes widened. Where – _

"_I'm right here," he said darkly, their faces inches away from each other. She froze, immediately ceasing all action as her back was pressed against the wall. Her breath caught in her throat, but not from excitement._

_She was afraid._

_She had spent the past three years in a box with only a treadmill and memories to train with; Sasuke had been learning from a Legendary Sannin, no matter how creepy, and real world experience counted for so much more than simply imagining. While her time as a prisoner had honed her thinking and strategizing impeccably, she was physically incapable of fighting against him. _

_He could do whatever he wanted to her._

"_Hinata…" Sasuke whispered, leaning closer to her. Her cheeks flushed. She cursed silently, really hoping he wasn't going to take that the wrong way. _

"_Sasuke, we –" _

_Apparently he had. Hinata stifled a sigh as his lips came crashing down onto hers. Hinata responded, if only to settle his hormones. _

_A few minutes later they parted, both of them breathing heavily. He had a tiny, annoying little smirk on his face; she kept her mouth a straight, hard line. A girl's first kiss was supposed to be with a boy she liked a great deal. A girl's first kiss was supposed to be magical and romantic and wonderful, not decided on the whim of some arrogant man-child who had abandoned her village. _

_But as the eternally-optimistic Hinata had been finding out for the past three years, what was supposed to happen and what really did happen were two very different things. She accepted the loss of her first kiss with dignity and a little disappointment, and hoped to convince Sasuke to leave it at just that – a kiss. _

"_Are you done?"_

_He did a double-take. "What?"_

"_I said, are you done?"_

"_U-uh yeah, I suppose."_

"_Good." Inching away from him against the wall, she walked over to her bag and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which turned out to be a large map of the Godaikoku _(1)_. She laid it out on the middle of the floor and invited him to join her, which he cautiously did. _

"_So, for our first move, I think we should…"_

_-_

Hinata pulled on a mesh shirt over her bra, and followed it with a skintight black tank top; next was a long-sleeved shirt that wrapped around her waist and tied on her right side – under that one she stored many of her extra weapons. Her black skirt was quite short and would have showed off her toned stomach if not for the bandages; Hinata had wrapped herself from her stomach to her ankles. She wore black shinobi sandals like those from her rookie genin years. A kunai pouch hung at her right side and there was another one on her left side near her back. With cool certainty, she tied her hair up and secured it with a small, decorative knife.

"Dressed to kill, eh?"

Hinata smiled at Kurenai. "You know it."

Her former sensei grinned at her. "Seriously… do your best."

"I won't need to, for her. I won't for anybody except Sasuke."

Kurenai evaluated her student with guarded eyes. She could tell that what Hinata had said was not a boast, but a simple statement of fact. She had simply progressed that much in six years. It was such a change, from the painfully shy wallflower to the strong, confident kunoichi. Of course, the bijuu might've had something to do with it. But without Hinata's natural qualities, like her modesty and her caution, all that power would've gone to waste.

And more important than strong, she was smart.

"Make me and Saru proud, okay?" said Kurenai, referring to her and Asuma's two-year-old son, Sarutobi Sachiro. He had already gained the nickname Saru for his monkey-like tendencies and likeness to a young Sandaime.

"Naturally. I wouldn't want to disappoint my nephew."

"I'd walk you there, but –"

"The whole motherhood thing, I know. I hope I'll see you there at least."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world! I finally get to see my last student pass into Chuunin-hood. Do you know how long Asuma's been holding that over my head? Especially with Mr. Genius Shikamaru…"

They shared a laugh before Kurenai's expression turned more somber.

"Hinata, I've been meaning to ask you if you were feeling alright – but I didn't see much of you this month. You just seem – upset."

Hinata smiled. "It's nothing to worry about. Can't I have couple jitters without you breaking down on me?"

"Really."

The smile faded. "Really really, Kurenai-sensei. It's nothing. I'll be fine."

"That's what you said when you told me the story of your stay in Kumo, and I know you're not f –"

"Sensei."

That tone. It was one she hadn't had in her time with under Hinata under her wing. Her voice in that instant had not been of soft compliance, like the red-eyed jounin remembered, but one of calm superiority. It was a tone that demanded respect and obedience. Kurenai's resolve crumpled and she sighed.

"Go kick some ass, then."

The smile was back.

"Now that I will gladly do."

* * *

Hinata calmly walked into the stadium five minutes before her match – the first one – was due to start. 

"You're cutting it awfully close," said Sasuke lazily, not moving from his sitting position in the contenders' box. He was wearing a black, gi-like shirt that exposed much of his chest and black pants that were secured near the ankle, his Kusanagi propped over his shoulder against the wall.

"A little risky using that sword, don't you think?" she asked mildly, standing over him.

"Just for fun."

"And your Chidori Nagashi."

He smirked, eyes glowing red briefly. "That too."

Hinata could feel Yuugito's gaze burning into her back but paid it no mind. She waved briefly to Shige to fortify his obviously shaky nerves and avoided Hanabi's glare like the plague. She smiled at Konohamaru and Moegi; he grinned back and she simply nodded, pale-faced.

"_**Ladies and gentleman!" **_

Tsunade's had been magnified to fill the stadium, echoing from the Kage box where she sat with Gaara.

"_**I welcome you from every corner of the continent to the Konohagakure no Sato Chuunin Examination!" **_

The crowd roared its approval.

"_**We gather here today to usher in a new age of shinobi and we hope you have fun watching them fight for it!"**_

Tsunade deactivated her jutsu and nodded down to Shikamaru, the proctor once again.

"The first match is between Nii Yuugito of Kumogakure and Hinata of Konohagakure," he said loudly. Naturally, he found raising his voice quite troublesome, but there was nothing to do about it with Tsunade breathing down his neck all the time.

"Going to neuter the cat?"

She turned to Sasuke with a smirk. "Obviously."

Yuugito had already leapt over the side of the platform, spinning in midair before landing with (surprise, surprise) catlike grace, earning her oohs and aahs from the masses. Hinata chose the more sedate path of the stairs.

"Take your time, why don't you?" Shikamaru grumbled quietly as she passed him.

"Sorry, I didn't have Naruto to help me plunge to my death," said Hinata sweetly.

"Not everybody can be as lucky as me."

"Too true."

He quickly jumped out of the way when the two kunoichi caught gazes. Becoming injured during the first match was quite unbecoming of a jounin, not to mention troublesome. Besides… being the genius and woman-expert that he was, Shikamaru knew that putting two women who clearly had some sort of rivalry going and were trained as killers together in an enclosed space meant major carnage.

"I won't lose," Yuugito said.

Hinata raised an eyebrow without concern. "That's my line."

"This won't be a repeat of my first chuunin exam!"

"…are you reading my mind?"

"First match – BEGIN!"

They simply stood for a minute, observing each other. Hinata was completely calm, and her unconcerned stance showed that. In contrast, Yuugito immediately crouched into an offensive position, eyes narrowed. Hinata yawned, looking supremely unconcerned.

"Don't jump the gun, dearie. We've only just started."

Her tone was patronizing; Yuugito's scowl deepened. She launched herself with precise ferocity at Hinata.

The Kumo kunoichi's fist shot out to catch Hinata in the jaw. Hinata avoided it easily. Yuugito swung with her left. Again, Hinata dodged with ease. The blows came harder and faster, increasing with power successively; still, Hinata simply tilted her head to avoid the blows or jumped when necessary to avoid kicks.

Yuugito leapt back, sneering. "I should've known better than to engage a Hyuuga in taijutsu," she said. Her eyes widened. Had her opponent –

"If I _had _been using Jyuuken, you would know it, and not just because the match would already be over."

"Don't underestimate me," she hissed in return. Hinata shrugged.

"Why shouldn't –"

Her reply was abruptly cut off. A cage made of lightning had trapped her where she stood. Yuugito dissolved into nothingness – a kaze-bushin. Hinata sat very still as the real Yuugito materialized across from where the bushin had been.

"Fuuton: Wind Bushin," said Yuugito triumphantly. "And of course Raiton: Cage of One's Own Destruction. That's why you shouldn't underestimate me."

"I see." She didn't sound terribly impressed. Yuugito didn't let it dampen her spirits.

"Everyone was talking about your first Chuunin Exam, you know. They all wanted to see your development – they seemed to think you had improved a great deal from a 'dark, shy weirdo'," said Yuugito with a haughty sneer.

_Ouch. _That had stung. She'd been talking to Naruto, clearly.

_Not that I should be surprised by that. _

"I guess this may be a repeat of your last Exam, Hyuuga-sama," said Yuugito loftily.

"Is that really what you think, Two-Tail?"

The blonde's eyes snapped open. "What did you just call me?!"

"Once again, you've stolen my line," said Hinata with a small smile. She had finally figured out why this girl rubbed her the wrong way so badly – except for their obvious romantic competition. She was the jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata. They really _were _like cats and dogs. Almost literally. Her powers, however, seemed strangely lacking in the area of darkness and death, which was the Nekomata's specialty, and mostly in the area of pure power that all demon containers had. Had the Nibi no Nekomata been sealed away especially well within her? That seemed unlikely; even the Fourth Hokage, renowned as the one of the greatest ninja _ever _had been unable to seal a bijuu away so completely.

_Perhaps it's been extracted by the Akatsuki…?_

"I don't take to insults very kindly from people I loathe," Hinata said lightly, just before she disintegrated, becoming a pile of dirt within the cage. Yuugito spun around frantically, searching for her lost prey.

"I mean, dark and weird, sure, but shy? Honestly, I'm offended." She was only a few feet behind the Kumo kunoichi.

"So you're a Doton user? That's quite weak against the lightning type, you know," she said, attempting to hold her ground in a dignified manner. Yuugito couldn't contain her gasp rock-hard earth bound her feet to the soil and formed chains that slunk onto her wrists with surprising speed.

"Oh no. I'm quite against favoritism like that," said Hinata with an innocent smile. "Choosing just _one _element seems so picky."

She began to circle Yuugito predatorily. Out of the ground next to her feet emerged a dragon made of earth that quickly began to orbit Yuugito with her. She watched with nervous, catlike eyes, flitting between her ultra-assured opponent and the serpent that could attack her at any moment. It was almost like fighting two people. Except she was at their mercy instead of being able to fight. She tugged against the chains to no avail.

"I mean, earth here is good and reliable, while something like fire –" At this, the dragon burst into flames, but continued its course around the Kumo kunoichi. " – is more forceful, a better offense.

"However, the benefit of water is that is it more adaptable, and can be used creatively, more so than most elements," said Hinata, watching lazily as the dragon slowly morphed from fire to water.

"Wind is a fun one, very offense-oriented." Suddenly, it was whirling around playfully, almost whimsically, just the faintest outline of an actual form.

"Naruto-kun specializes in wind," said Yuugito. "Did you know? You probably wouldn't, having abandoned your village and everything."

"The kitten has claws," said Hinata, amused. "I'll let that little bit of sass slip, seeing how completely pathetic you are right now."

_**Why are you letting her get to you? You rarely demean your opponents like this. **_

_Come now, aren't you renowned as the wisest of the bijuu? Certainly you can understand the petty jealousy of a woman in love. _

She could feel the Gobi's dark amusement. _**And the scorn of a woman tortured.**_

_Yeah, well that pain is secondary, isn't it? _

"And lightning," said Hinata, who watched the dragon intently as its lightning counterpart crackled into existence. "You seem to hold that element in especially high regard. But I like to think of most things in equal terms, you see. And that's why I don't pick an element… I just master all of them."

"That's impossible," said Yuugito stoutly, closing her eyes as a tiny bolt of lightning struck her cheek teasingly, leaving a tiny welt.

"It should be," agreed Hinata amicably. "Anyway, now that you know that any elemental attack you throw at me will be absorbed for its chakra or easily thrown off, I'm wondering how you'll attack. Especially since you seem to lack the Nekomata's chakra."

"You're just playing with me, aren't you?" whispered Yuugito, looking down at her feet.

"Yes."

"You're in a completely different league, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"You… you could beat me so easily, right?"

"Yes."

There was only cold, hard logic in that voice. Realization came crashing down on Yuugito like a bucket of ice-cold water.

"But…"

Yuugito looked up at her captor.

"I want to see what you've got."

_I want to see if you really deserve him. _

---

"_Naruto-kun?" _

_Hinata looked around the training grounds with a frown. She'd been looking for Naruto for at least ten minutes to ask him a question about a jutsu she was developing (much too powerful for the Chuunin Exam finals in three weeks, but a useful one nonetheless). Certainly he, in his invention of many commendable jutsu, could help her work it out. There was also the fact that she just wanted to see him… but Hinata ignored that little bit of information and trekked onward. _

_She heard feminine laughter to her left. _Good, _she thought as she made her way towards the sound. _Maybe somebody has seen him…

_Hinata had just barely stepped into the clearing when she saw it. _

_Yuugito and Naruto, wrapped rather indecently around each other on the ground. Their faces would touch if either of them moved an inch. _

"_Yuugito-chan…"_

"_Naruto," demanded the Cloud kunoichi huskily. "Kiss me!"_

---

She hadn't stayed for the rest of the conversation.

The next three weeks were spent studiously avoiding Naruto and Yuugito, and consequently spending more and more time with Sasuke. It's not as though she minded Sasuke, as much as she ripped on him. In fact, it was slipping into an old and comfortable routine to spend most of her time with him. As implausible as it seemed, Sasuke was her support system in the absence of Team 8, and had become the person she trusted the most, if only because she had spent three years with him alone.

She had used those three weeks to settle with the idea of Yuugito and Naruto hooking up. Her heart was tearing itself up, but she decided that his happiness came before hers, always.

_Nothing much has changed. He still doesn't notice me. _

_Well, screw him then. _

She'd decided that making sure Yuugito was worthy of Naruto was the first step to letting him go. Maybe – just maybe – the girl would prove herself, despite her village of origin.

"Do you work well under pressure, Yuugito-san?"

"What?"

"I hope so…"

"Wait! What are you - ?!"

The earth began to rumble ominously. Soon, jagged rocks began to erupt from the ground in a rough circle, climbing higher and taking the two kunoichi with them.

Yuugito looked around with awed eyes. This woman had summoned what appeared to be the crater of an extinct volcano. The two opponents were now nearly even with the spectators.

_This must take an enormous amount of chakra! _Her opponent seemed completely fine – she wasn't even out of breath. She waved cheerily when she caught Yuugito staring. _Damn! Her chakra reserves are enormous!_

"Oh! I almost forgot," said Hinata apologetically. She pressed her hands together and closed her eyes, concentrating intensely. Chakra gathered visibly around her feet before shooing down to the middle of the crater where it thrust itself deep into the earth. After a few moments of silence, there was a bubbling sound. Something began to ooze out of the bottom of the crater; it was a fierce yellow-orange, and it was radiating intense heat.

_Is that lava?! _

It was. In fact, the lava was slowly but surely filling up the formerly-extinct crater. By the time it had filled most of the volcano, only a few ledges and jutting rocks remained uncovered by the whim of Hinata. It bubbled thickly, swelling for a moment before releasing the hot air into the sky. Yuugito could feel the sweat developing all over as the full impact of the heat hit her. The image of the spectator stands began to distort suspiciously – the heat was so intense that it was blurring the scenery.

"Well, it is called _Fire_ Country. Now, attack me!"

------

* * *

------ 

DUN DUN DUN!

(1) I hate these, really I do, they totally interrupt the chapter… but the fact that I had misinformed you all was tearing me up inside. Okay. So when I said Godaikoku, I named their ninja villages, not the countries themselves – so to correct myself, it would be **Land of Fire** (Konoha/Leaf), **Land of Water** (Kiri?/Mist), **Land of Lightning** (Kumo/Cloud), **Land of Earth** (Iwa/Stone), and **Land of Wind** (Suna/Sand).

Ugh… I am so sorry about this chapter. I suck at fight scenes. Can't wait for the Chuunin Exams to be over. Only this fight and the Sasuke v. Hinata fight will be drawn out in detail like this. UGH! I can only think of how I don't like it at all. Tell me what I did. I think it was a dialogue thing...

I'm glad I addressed the SasuHina issue, though. Any kind of romantic interaction they did have was purely hormonal. Sorry, SasuHina fans. I mean, that's a cool pairing… but NaruHina totally pwns in this story.

**Tell me if you're for SasuSaku or tell me who you think Sasuke should get together with if SasuSaku doesn't work out. **I already have _somebody _in mind… (not telling!)


	6. 05: Prelude to a Battle of Equals

* * *

Please excuse spelling/grammar/everything mistakes... it's two in the morning, but I really just wanted this thing out there, ya know? 

Dammit, I fucking hate this editing program. It won't let me bold Prodigals, or other stuff in this introductory piece, so just imagine that some things are bold, some things are italix, etc.

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

_Feral Panda Chick_

Rating: T

_**Pairings:**_ NaruHina (definite), AsuKure (definite), NejiTen (definite)

_I still want input:_ SasuSaku or **_NOT _**SasuSaku?

* * *

Yuugito looked down into the gaping maw of the volcano. 

_Are you kidding? Going on the assumption that that is real lava, I don't stand a chance! And her proficiency in all of the elements – how that happened, I can't fathom – means my lightning-style jutsu will always be weaker to any of her elemental jutsu. _

…_maybe that's the problem. I'm thinking too much like a Kumogakure shinobi, and less like the bounty-nin that I am now. I need to be more out of the box, more spontaneous… truth be told, I need to be more like Naruto-kun._

"Naruto-kun…" she mumbled out loud.

_She had searched out Naruto only to ask him about a jutsu on which she was working. Really. That was the only reason. No ulterior motive whatsoever. _

_Okay, so maybe she wanted to see the man she secretly loved and adored with all her heart, but other than that, no _other _ulterior motive. _

_Currently, he was showing her how to modify her special jutsu to use it to its most effective level. _

"_Now, brace your body for the impact," Naruto said, placing steady hands on her shoulders as the jutsu hit. The ground rumbled and she nearly fell over but for the reassuring pressure of his hands._

"_That was great, Yuugito-chan! He told her with a grin. "That's a really impressive jutsu – did you invent it?" She nodded, sweating a little, but flush with his praise. "Alright, once more and we'll call it a day, all right?" _

_She performed the jutsu to near perfection – only she had siphoned too much chakra into the attack. The after-shock was so great that they both tumbled over, her landing on top of him rather provocatively, a precious few inches from his face. She gazed into his eyes deeply, and found only confusion – not what she was looking for. Pressing her curves closer to him, she waited from the proper response. Tears stung her eyes._

_Nothing._

_Finally, she leaned down toward his face, so that they were barely an inch from the other. _

"_Naruto," she demanded huskily. "Kiss me!"_

_There was silence._

_He understood now, his expressive eyes filling with sadness before he looked away from her guiltily. _

"_Yuugito…"_

"_What?_What?!_Please – please tell me! Naruto… I… I-I… love you!"_

"_Yuugito…"_

"_We were both jinchuuriki once – I would understand you so much better than h – so much better! I care about you so much it hurts…" she ended in a strangled whisper, unable to meet his kind, blue eyes._

"_Yuugito, you are an amazing girl."_

_Her heart broke in two at the way he said those simple words. _

"_You're gorgeous, brave, smart, and sweet. Any sane man would be crazy about you."_

"_What about you then?" she asked, desperately hoping._

"'_Sane' and 'Uzumaki Naruto' should never be used together unless separated by a 'not' – you know that."_

Well, that was that. The man she had spent the last two years or so devoting her life to didn't return the feeling. So she had made it her goal to test the woman who had clearly captured his heart – this _Hinata._

She went around, subtly inquiring about the former Hyuuga.

She was shy.

She was sweet.

She was loved by everybody.

She had been missing for six years.

She hadn't even been around for Naruto! What could he possibly see in her? All this time she, Yuugito, had been giving subtle hints of her love for him, and all of a sudden this girl had all his affection. It was totally unfair. Not only that, but she was also a powerful shinobi – stronger than Yuugito, anyway.

_I may as well go out with a bang, then._

Fearlessly, Yuugito jumped onto one of the protruding crags of volcanic rock. Hinata raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Well? I'm waiting."

Her perch was on the other side of the rim, directly opposite of Yuugito. The blonde instantly began to run around the crater to her before suddenly leaping out onto another rock that was not part of the rim and flinging ten kunai at the startled Hinata. The Konoha kunoichi ducked quickly – only one stray kunai sliced her cheek – and sharply slid her hands against each other. The ground rumbled, and Yuugito nearly lost her balance and tumbled into the lava.

Gritting her teeth against the heat – after all, she had been raised and had lived most of her life in Kumogakure, a much colder village than Konoha – Yuugito used chakra to stick to the sides of the volcano and rushed up to meet her opponent. She leaped toward Hinata with a kunai raised, attempting to engage her in battle. Hinata countered with simple hand movements, but there was an approving glint in her eye.

_What is she playing at? I just don't understand this woman!_

When a lunge took Yuugito too far, Hinata bent her leg sharply and shoved her foot into the other woman's stomach with tremendous force. The breath left her in a whoosh and she sped toward the opposite edge of the volcano.

However, when she should've cracked her skull against the rock, Yuugito rebounded effortlessly, flipping in the air and landing on all fours on the side of the volcano like a large cat. Her hands flashed through hand seals too fast for the average ninja eye to follow.

"Doton: Earth Disruption!"

The ground rumbled threateningly and Hinata's eyes widened. _Damn! The volcano will – _

The ashes and smoke reared up out of nowhere, fogging out of the volcano. They clouded Hinata's vision and choked her breath. Next, the lava reared up dangerously. If she wasn't careful, it would s-

_**LEFT.**_

Yuugito had used her distraction to charge in from her left side, and was now punching, kicking, and otherwise injuring her as much as possible. Suddenly she disappeared and Hinata heard, a ways off: "Earth Disruption! Earth Disruption! Earth Disruption!"

_Stupid girl! She's not the only one next to the volcano! _

Finally activating her Byakugan, Hinata moved faster than anyone could see, smoke or no, and struck Yuugito in order to move her out of the radius of the lava flow she had caused. Hinata, having acted in haste, realized that she had knocked Yuugito out.

_Well, I don't know if she's worthy of Naruto-kun… but I believe she's surpassed her village of origin in terms of general goodness of heart. Too bad I didn't have more time to test her…_

"Fuuton: Shadows Disperse!" A huge wind moved to blow the smoke and ash away from the spectators and high into the heavens. Next, Hinata bent down to the ground and began to hum softly. She hummed a song known only to the most ancient of elemental beings, a song that had been taught to her by the Gobi. The lava slowly calmed and began to recede as the spectators began to realize what had happened. A coughing Shikamaru cleared his throat loudly to announce the winner.

"_Winner: Hinata!"_

The bottom of the volcano opened like the maw of a giant beast to gobble the lava back into its depths, and the rock that had formed the craggy shapes of the crater lowered itself into the ground, led by a hand as gentle as a new mother's. The victor watched dispassionately as the medics carted Yuugito away.

Hinata began to leave the battle arena with an air of composed confidence, flicking her hair over her shoulder nonchalantly. The audience cheered wildly for her as she left, and Hinata turned to the loudest-cheering section (the Rookie 9, naturally), blowing them a self-satisfied kiss and a wink. She could hear Kiba's loud, barking laughter as Naruto tripped and fell on his face.

"Next match: Moegi versus Daichi!"

"Good luck, Moegi-chan," said Hinata kindly, patting the young kunoichi on the shoulder. She couldn't manage any words in return – just a weak nod.

Daichi, the sand ninja, brushed by the two of them, purposefully jostling Moegi in the process.

"Don't worry, little Leaf ninja. I'll send flowers to your hospital room in apology."

"Don't listen to him, Moegi-chan. That's just a scare tactic. Use your head and you'll be fine." Nodding a little more firmly this time, Moegi walked slowly down to the battle arena.

Ten minutes later, the match was over.

A joyous Moegi bounded up the steps, flushed with victory. Hinata shook her head, smiling. Daichi had dug his own grave when he underestimated a Konoha kunoichi.

"Be sure that you send _him_ flowers, Moegi-chan."

Next up was a match between two Leaf ninja, Shigeruki and Konohamaru. Shige hadn't really stood a chance; Konohamaru was something of Naruto's protégé, and had been under his guidance for a quite a while. Given the talent and power of the blonde ninja, it should come of no surprise that he won his match hands down. Shigeruki, to his credit, had clearly performed to his best, but was dragged off to the hospital immediately after Shikamaru pronounced the match over in Konohamaru's favor. Naruto could be heard cheering loudly in the stands.

Then it was Sasuke's turn. The sand ninja, Masato, was as impassive as he was.

"I have a feeling that this match will be… boring."

"Why do you say that, Hinata-san?"

"Because both of them are cold, unfeeling people. Their match will be very sedate… very strategy-based… with very little talking."

"Do you think Sasuke-san will win?"

Hinata laughed; the sound was like pealing bells. "Of course I do, Konohamaru-kun."

Down on the battleground, it was very quiet, as Hinata had predicted.

"I will try to end this quickly, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "That so?" A smirk tugged at his lips.

_Schiiiing_.

Masato had drawn a long, wickedly-sharp, strangely-curved blade out of a summoning scroll. He brandished it with precision and deadly grace. Sasuke pulled out his katana (rather plain-looking in comparison) in an answering move.

"So it will be a battle of swords, then."

No sooner were these words out of Masato's mouth than Sasuke attacked. Hinata, watching lazily from her perch, was reminded, as she often was when watching Sasuke, of a large cat. One that always seemed to hum with a sort of dangerous charm, but one that really came into his own while fighting.

Again, as she had predicted, Sasuke soon won the match fair and square, but very quietly. Hinata yawned languidly. This was turning out to be quite boring.

"_Last match of this round: Hyuuga Hanabi versus Uchiha Sasuke! As per rules, there will be a short, ten minute intermission on Sasuke's behalf."_

Hinata stood silently as Hanabi walked past her with all the arrogance befitting a Hyuuga, not even pausing to sneer at her former sister as she traipsed down to the arena where the medics were looking over Hinata's partner in crime. Slowly, as not to reveal any of her worries, Hinata moved toward the edge of the fighters' box and caught eyes with Sasuke. He was looking straight at her.

_Go easy on her._

_Why?_

_She's my sister._

_The feeling's not mutual._

_I don't care._

_What if I don't want to? _

_Sasuke!_

_Your sister's a bitch. And you could take her down in a second, but you let her walk all over you._

_I'm supposed to watch out for her!_

_You can't watch out for her all the time. It's time for Hanabi-chan to come back to earth._

He looked away, ending their silent conversation. To anyone who had been watching, it looked like they were simply staring at each other, but in reality the subtle little movements they made conveyed an entire conversation.

Crossing her arms over her chest angrily, she perched herself on the ledge of the box and decided to watch the entire match very carefully; she would be sure to use all of his own moves and strategies against him in their match-up.

* * *

She slowly came to, head hurting like hell. 

_Where am I?_

"_You're pretty pathetic as a ninja, you know? I think you might the worst ninja I've ever met."_

Oh. Right.

"_This is a truly pointless match. You have no chance against me. Especially because you were so unnecessarily vindictive toward your sister. Many people are quite protective of her – and I am among that number."_

_She sneered. He was certainly talkative today, wasn't he? "You're exactly right – many are protective of her. But why anybody would bother is beyond me."_

"_That's true. She doesn't really need protection."_

She had gotten her ass royally kicked by some orphan Uchiha in less than two minutes. Father would be furious.

"_Look at the way I toy with you, Hanabi-chan. And you know what? I possess a small fraction of Hinata's power. Against her, you wouldn't last ten seconds, let alone – how long have we been going now? Forty-five?"_

What a humiliating defeat! And in front of everyone! There was no way she was making chuunin now. She would have to wait another six months – that is, if her father would let her go to a foreign village to attempt the exam again. It might be _years_until he would let her try again, lest she embarrass the Hyuuga name so thoroughly.

She glared around at the hospital room with furious tears until someone knocked on the door. Rubbing her hands across her eyes hastily, she quickly checked her reflection in the window before calling out, "Come in."

Hyuuga Hiashi stepped through the door.

"Hanabi. We need to talk."

* * *

"_The second round will commence in five minutes!"_

Hinata really, really _really _didn't want to fight Moegi. The girl was sweet and innocent (mostly) and emotionally fragile. She didn't have Sakura's resilience, at this point; she would most likely take a loss hard and hold it close to her heart for a long time.

"Hinata-san!" Moegi called from across the box. "Could I speak to you?"

"Certainly."

They walked off to a separate corner for a little privacy… not that it would do much good. Sasuke's hearing was impeccable.

"Hinata-san… I know that you are an amazing kunoichi and that you could beat me in a second –"

"Moegi-chan, you shouldn't –"

"No. We both know it. But I know it especially well. I've done my job. I researched all my possible opponents in the last month. I paid special attention to that Nii Yuugito because she knew Naruto-kun… and people who know Naruto-kun well are usually formidable opponents. I was impressed with what I saw. But then I was watching your match. You were toying with her, Hinata-san. Toying."

"Moegi-chan, I hope you don't think any less of me because of –"

"No, no, that's not it at all! I was even more impressed by you – how you let her think she had won, and how you gave her a chance to prove that she had potential. But I knew that I only could've beaten her with all my strength, knowledge and cunning, so when you just totally beat her like she was nothing, I knew. I knew that against you, I didn't really stand a chance. However, since we would seem to be fighting next, I'd like to ask you a favor."

"Anything, within reason."

"I would like for you not to baby me. That's happened to me all my life. At first my father and my brothers always used to coddle me, because I was the baby. In the Academy, many of the male teachers coddled me because I was female. And now, my teammates and my sensei coddle me because I'm a kunoichi, not just some guy shinobi. I just want for you to take me seriously."

Hinata was thoughtful for a moment. _She's quite more mature than I thought. _"I'll tell you what, Moegi-chan. Think of this match as… training-Think of it as a test for me to gauge your abilities. And another time, you can work on the actual beating me part. Is it a deal?"

Moegi smiled brightly, pleased by this suggestion. "So, might you consider instructing me sometime?"

"It would be my pleasure."

"_First match of the second round: Hinata versus Moegi!"_

The crowd cheered their willingness to watch the bloodshed, but they were sorely disappointed. Hinata let Moegi exercise her talents for the judges as opposed to actually fighting her, so that she might get a better chance at chuunin. Hinata, after all, had nothing to worry about, and felt sort of sorry that these people who were actually at the chuunin level were fighting people like her and Sasuke. The match ended with a simple knockout by Hinata, who was sure to cause the minimal amount of pain.

"_Second match of the second round: Konohamaru versus Sasuke!"  
_

Some cheered for Konohamaru and some booed for Sasuke, but the crowd definitely got going to usher those two to center stage. No match yet had had such a high rate of intensity (on Konohamaru's part, anyway) and crowd interest. The grandson of Sandaime and the last sane Uchiha was a match-up to be remembered. If only Sasuke wasn't well above Konohamaru's level, the match could've ended more spectacularly. Konohamaru, however, did put up an amazing fight, forcing Sasuke to use some of his more powerful attacks. He was very impressed by the boy, not that he would ever admit that out loud, especially since Naruto had been his semi-teacher.

* * *

"_**Ladies and Gentleman of the Godaikoku, the final round of the Konohagakure Chuunin Examination is about to begin! Today, our final match will be between two shinobi of the Leaf – Hinata and Uchiha Sasuke!" **_

The crowd went wild at the Godaime's pronouncement.

"_**Sasuke and Hinata, please report to the battle arena immediately!"**_

The cheering increased. Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other and started to walk down the stairs quietly, arms linked.

"You know what to do, right?"

"You've only been bothering me about this since forever. I don't think I am physically capable of not remembering the plan."

Hinata's glare was self-derogatory. "I know, I know. But I'm just –"

"Excited? Want to show off, then? I never pegged you as the exhibitionist type."

"Not like you could understand this… but I want people to stop thinking of me as the same little girl. It really pisses me off."

They had reached the now-familiar battlefield and split ways, standing about ten feet away from each other.

"Are you ready for this?" asked Sasuke, a hint of his ever-present arrogance rising to the surface.

"Yes… just promise me one thing."

"Hm?"

"Let's rock this shit."

* * *


	7. 06: Of Course!

Chapter dedication goes to lil.ramen.lover, my faithful reviewer/pm'er. Thanks for the motivation!

**Author: **Feral Panda Chick

**Summary: **Sasuke and Hinata have finally returned to Konoha after six years away from their beloved village… but there's still work to be done. With Orochimaru and Akatsuki still on the loose, will they their happiness ever be anything but fleeting?

**Rating: **T/PG-13, to be safe. Probably for language, at some point.

**Pairings: **_NaruHina _(definite), AsuKure (definite), _NejiTen_ (definite); _SasuSaku/HanaKono_ _**OR**_ _SakuLee/SasuHana_

**Warnings: **None, for now.

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

Chapter 06

_Of Course!_

* * *

"Begin." 

One simple word, but Hinata and Sasuke were already flying into action, into a well-rehearsed routine. They were both grinning as they ducked and dodged, spun and flipped. This warm-up was like the beginning of a dance – it was a prelude to the rising action.

Suddenly Sasuke landed and drew his katana. Hinata slid to a stop and, humming the same tune that had put the volcano to sleep, summoned herself a sword out of the earth. The ground pulsed and earth shot up into her hand. Molten lava was writhing around the blade, hissing and steaming, until it slid off, leaving a perfectly formed katana, nearly identical to Sasuke's own.

"Show-off."

She smirked. "Face it, Sasuke. I do everything you do… but better."

He scowled and rushed her.

Thrust, thrust, parry, dodge. "You're being awfully arrogant."

Dodge, sidestep, up-swing, thrust. "Why? Do I remind you of yourself?"

Forward-thrust, slash, down-swing, dodge, _slice – _

Hinata frowned at the tiny cut on her cheek, which began to bleed stubbornly.

"You do, actually. Besides, you know I'm a better swordsman."

"Swords_person_."

"Whatever."

"Want to up the ante? Let's see if you can fight as well under pressure."

"Let's do it."

They leaped away from each other.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," Sasuke muttered, clenching his tattooed left forearm as he slammed it to the ground. There was a large poof of smoke as well as hissing noise. Five snakes had appeared within the arena; they were huge, and all black but each with different undertones – green, indigo, blue, red, and yellow. However, this was much to the chagrin of many audience members.

* * *

"What is playing at?" hissed Shizune, sounding a bit like a snake herself. "That's tantamount to declaring allegiance to Orochimaru!" 

"It is not," said Tsunade calmly to her assistant. "The summons do not take sides. They fight for those they give their respect to, and no one else. They only turn against their summoners in extreme circumstances." Gaara, the Kazekage, watched this exchange with silent interest. He was remembering his first chuunin exams, and the invasion he had helped to initiate in the middle of them.

"If you say so, Tsunade-sama," mumbled the brunette. "But others may question his loyalties."

"I quite agree. I wish I knew what he was trying to do with this little stunt."

The Hokage continued to squint down at the snakes, and found they looked strangely… _different_… than she was used to…

She shook that feeling off. She hadn't fought alongside Orochimaru in decades; who was she to know what was different or unusual? She looked over to the Kazekage and focused on him to make the feeling of unease disappear even more.

"Care to make a wager, Kazekage-sama?"

* * *

Hinata smiled. "This is turning into a nice little spar. And since this is for the good of Konoha… I don't feel too bad showing off a little bit!" 

Backing off even farther so the snakes would not take advantage of her, Hinata closed her eyes and hummed quietly. Then, she took a deep breath and blew out a huge gust of wind, followed by a long column of fire. Next she stamped the ground and water arose out of a gaping hole, followed by a large amount of earth. Finally, she clasped her hands together above her head, and, in a flash, as if she was some sort of human conductor, lightning struck her, and at once shot away from her hand in a long arch, and then curling back around her in an animal-like countenance.

All five of Hinata's "summons" suddenly reared up to face Sasuke's own, taking on vaguely serpentine shape. The crowd cheered wildly for her and her elemental snakes.

"You're basically rendering my summoning useless."

"Yep."

"Sometimes… I really, really hate you."

"Oh, shut up and fight."

At once the snakes attacked their counterparts, hissing and biting viciously. Hinata and Sasuke clashed right in the middle, ducking and weaving in between the striking heads and fangs of the snakes in a masters' dance. The crowed oohed and ahhed accordingly. The Rookie 9 was watching with avid interest.

"Chidori Nagashi!"

Hinata dashed out from under the battling snakes and away from the modified Chidori, scampering effortlessly through the fray. Sasuke followed. They continued their swordfight; the yellow-hued black snake managed to destroy the water snake before it fell from exhaustion, un-summoning itself back to its own dimension.

Now Hinata was in retreat; she had abandoned her sword altogether. She ran directly up the wall and began to run, parallel to the earth. Sasuke was following her progress on the ground, katana at the ready. Suddenly, he slid to a stop.

"Chidori Dangan!"

The sounds of a thousand chirping birds filled Hinata's ears as a blast of lightning came rocketing toward her. She pushed off the wall to meet it.

"Hotaru no Kaiten!"

Hinata spun in midair just as the Chidori Dangan was about to hit her, and for a moment it appeared as though it had devoured her. However, it soon became clear that her aerial Kaiten was deflecting the attack in all directions. Eventually the blast died away, and Hinata was left, twirling gracefully, until she, too, had dissolved into nothingness.

_A wind clone! Damn it! I thought she hadn't mastered that yet! _

There were whispers and gasps. Kaze bushin were notoriously hard to master; as wind was the most offensive element out of all of them, the chakra was difficult to force into one form for an extended period of time. However, it appeared that Hinata had that particular skill down, and to an impeccable degree.

_Behind __–_ he turned around and his katana pierced her shoulder and she hissed before disappearing in a cloud of dust. _Tsuchi __bushin - __Dammit!_

-

_Heh,_ Hinata thought with a silent snicker. _He'll never catch me. _

She struck out at Sasuke again, only to see that she had been fooled by her own trick. _A __bushin__, eh?__ Damn._

Without warning, Hinata felt Sasuke's hands latch on to her shoulders and he began to stare into her eyes with his own blood-red orbs. His grip was vice-like and for some reason she couldn't break away, though that usually wasn't a problem for her. _Stupid Sharingan!_

"San-en no Jutsu..." Hinata heard Sasuke's triumphant whisper. "Speak no Evil -"

She clutched at her throat instinctively, before trying to respond. Nothing came out.

"Hear no Evil –"

The crowds' cheers cut off instantly. Hinata was glaring at Sasuke in disbelief. Where had he learned this technique? And it sounded vaguely familiar. She had a bad feeling she knew what was coming.

"_See no Evil_." Sasuke's voice echoed around in her head; she was sure there was some sort of spiritual or mental connection to the attack.

Everything faded to blackness. Hinata felt a long, low growl in the dark corners of her mind. The Gobi was not pleased either, apparently.

_"Well? How does it feel to be reduced to hearing only my voice?"_

_If that's your plan, dearest Avenger, __then please kill me now. _

He ignored her little jibe and continued their mental conversation. _"From now on and until this attack loses __effect, that__ is all that you will hear. And since I won't be talking – that would give away my position – you won't be hearing much."_

_And where, may I ask, did you learn such a technique?_

_"From Monk __Iwagetsu...__ Now what did you call him? __Crackpot old man?__ Lousy, good-for-nothing fraud?"_

_He IS a fraud, Sasuke. He's no prophet__ or psychic or anything like that. __Just a fake and a former ninja._

_"__Hmph__ We'll see how you feel once I win this fight."_

His last warning echoed around her mind until finally it faded away as well. She hissed in pain as he caught her shoulder on his katana; she could still sense chakra, but it was too slow.

_Hakkeshou__ Kaiten!_

She performed the technique on a grand scale, using her chakra to lengthen the reach of her Kaiten. Next, she used the Gobi's chakra to heighten her senses of smell and touch, the only two still available to her.

_Sweat, metal, fire, a hint of tomatoes… __Sasuke.__ Fifty meters to the north-west, waiting for my __Kaiten's__ energy to die down so he can attack__ no doubt._He cut the air with his sword as he re-drew it; the subsequent blast of wind made it to her nose. _He's getting ready to attack. _

_The snakes are directly opposite him; I have to avoid those, or else I'm done for. _There was a tremble in the ground; Sasuke was walking toward her with even, measured steps.

_Fool. _

Sasuke was stalking Hinata ever so carefully. His clone was sure to give away its position soon, and Hinata would attack it, leaving him open to take her down. Figuratively, of course. One of his three remaining snakes had slithered over and he was perched on its head, waiting for the perfect moment.

There was a flash of black, and the Sasuke clone was dispersed. Sasuke himself flew into motion, leaping toward Hinata with equal speed. His eyes widened as she didn't move; instead, she let herself be hit.

_What is she – _poof. A clone? The firm leather grip of his sword was torn away from him and thrown towards the closest wall, where it landed with a dull _thunk_. There was a cold press of metal on his neck.

"You've got a lot to learn, Sasuke-_kuuun_," she said, drawling the suffix. Her voice was a little louder than she usually tempered it, but that was to be expected since she couldn't hear. "In every aspect that clone was perfect… except that it smelled like a clone, and not you," Hinata's voice purred into his ear.

_Fuck. Can I ever catch a break with this woman?_

He wrenched himself out of her grip and turned to study her, searching for a weakness. They'd been partners for years now, and he still hadn't beaten her on a consistent basis. She simply had too much chakra from a much too-helpful demon with chakra control that was much too precise. Anyone who knew the scale of Hinata's power and skill knew that to beat her at all was a major feat; but the Avenger was not about to take that blow to ego – that is, losing to a _girl _ - lightly, let alone take it lying down multiple times.

Her eyes were blank and unfocused, for once actually being blind as opposed to simply looking like it. At least part of his jutsu was still in effect. He clapped his hands loudly; she didn't turn at first, so she was still deaf. It took a split-second longer than her norm, but she rotated so that she was facing the direction from which the noise had come. Hinata's nose and sense of touch were her biggest allies now. She could feel the gust of air when he moved and could smell him on the wind, thus pinpointing his position.

"I'm getting a little bored," she said suddenly. "Can we finish this soon?

Sasuke gave her a look before he remembered that she was blind. "Do we _have _to?"

"Oh, quit your whining. You're such a spoilt brat sometimes."

He was about to retort with 'I am_ not_' before thinking better of it. "Fine," he grumbled eventually.

Hinata slid into a Jyuuken stance. Sasuke readied his right hand. Blue-white lightning began to crackle in his palm as Hinata activated her Byakugan and began to move her hands in a motion that her teammates and Naruto found familiar.

"Shugohakke Rokujyu Yonshou!"

"Habataku Chidori!" The blue glow in his hand intensified so that everyone in the audience was forced to squint.

Sasuke started to sprint directly toward Hinata, the sounds of flapping wings filling the stadium. Hinata stood firmly, arms twirling around her to form a chakra shield unlike any other. The layers built and built until at least a foot of pure chakra was between her and Sasuke's massive, deadly attack. He was so close to hitting the barrier – only ten feet – five – three – two – one – there was just a fraction of space left between them now –

The explosion was on the scale of a mini-Kyuubi, which was definitely saying something. The noise deafened spectators; the bright blast of light as their energies clashed blinded everyone watching; and the ground rumbled dangerously. The earthy floor around them was being disintegrated with the sheer power behind their finale. After a full minute of explosive, blinding power, all noise and motion stopped.

The dust, hanging in the air from where the ground had been nearly vaporized, cleared. Hinata and Sasuke were clearly in an exhausted condition in the middle of a huge crater that had formed from the backlash of his attack and her defense. Neither of them looked as though they had enough energy to continue; both of the two ninja were all chakra'd out, panting on the ground.

And then, at the exact same moment, Hinata and Sasuke managed to haul themselves up and rushed the other in unison. However, with their impaired vision, the collision was less than impressive. They ran right into each other, knocking foreheads with a dull thud before keeling over, unconscious.

There was dead quiet.

"You're _joking_," said Sakura, in complete disbelief. Next to her, Ino, Chouji, and Kiba were openly gaping. Naruto seemed to be restraining laughter with great difficulty. The end result was a strange choking noise like a cat attempting to rid itself of a hairball.

Shikamaru trudged forward, certain that this was not another ploy – at least, certain for the moment.

"Double knockout," he called up to Tsunade.

Gaara and Tsunade were staring down at the field with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, they just did _not_," said Shizune at last. "They collided on accident! What insanely bizarre luck!"

"Well, I did tell them to put on a show," said Tsunade, grinning at last. "Well, Gaara, since neither Hinata nor Sasuke won, I think we can safely call off our bet, don't you?"

Gaara nodded silently. "This has been an interesting tournament, Hokage-sama," he said, silently thanking the gods that he hadn't had to pay the large sum the Hokage had proposed in their wager. "I will depart back to Suna when Masato has recovered."

"He fought admirably."

"I couldn't agree more." Gaara privately thought that he might promote the boy to chuunin; he was a hard worker, a steady ninja, and had an excellent proficiency for his blade. The fact that he had lasted as long as he did against the Uchiha was proof of that. Of course, Tsunade didn't need to know all that. Even allies had their secrets.

"Congratulations to all of your Shinobi, Tsunade-sama. I am sure that the Chuunin Promotion Committee will have a lot to look over."

"Indeed. I hope your travels are safe, Kazekage-sama."

Meanwhile, on the arena floor, Hinata and Sasuke were having a miraculous recovery.

"Wow, I'm as good as new! It's amazing what a hit to the head'll do, eh Sasu-chan?" Hinata's surprised voice was just a tad over-exaggerated to be true, and Shikamaru wasn't stupid.

"So you threw the match," said Shikamaru shortly. Sasuke shrugged as the crowd began to cheer wildly for the excellent match.

"Yes. We feel that exposing all of our trump cards in one go isn't the best option for us. We're conserving all the best for later."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but grinned slightly as the crowd started to cheer for the two winners – or losers. "I'm sure Naruto will be glad to hear that."

Sasuke's smirk was a mile wide.

-

The Rookie 9 was alternately celebrating for their friends and laughing hysterically at the comical victory that had just been achieved. When Hinata appeared among them, their volume increased, and Naruto was the first to speak.

"Awesome! I can't wait to spar with you and Sasuke, Hinata-chan!"

"That was an amazing match, but I think that the end was my favorite part," said Ino cheekily.

"I know Sasuke's been called a knock-out, but that was totally ridiculous!" Kiba rolled his eyes. "Ugh, I really wish you woulda beaten him, Hinata-chan. Team 7 gets all the glory around here!"

"We do not!" Sakura leapt in to defend Team 7.

"You have the Hokage's apprentice and the Hokage's surrogate brother and all three of you are apprenticed to Sannin," said Neji shortly. He had just appeared at Hinata's elbow. "Of course you're given special favors… and all the fame. Hinata-sama, excellent match. This is for you." He slipped what looked like a little note into her hand and she stashed it in the sleeve of her shirt.

"Thank you very much, Neji-nii."

"Good job," said Shino, injected the slightest bit of feeling into his words. "I was very impressed with your progress."

Hinata flushed prettily; she had always admired Shino, and his opinion meant a great deal to her. Naruto noticed – of course.

"Hinata-chan, Hinata-chan, do you always spar with Sasuke like that?" he asked to take her mind off of her teammate… which was a rather ridiculous idea since most of her thoughts revolved around him, anyway.

_I can't think like that now. He's a committed man. _

"-having a discussion about who your kiss was for."

"Eh?" Hinata popped out of her dream world.

"The kiss you blew after your match with that Yuugito chick. Who was it for? We had quite a little debate you see…" Kiba was grinning devilishly as he said this.

Hinata looked surprised and allowed her eyes to drift over her classmates. All of them were smirking except for Naruto, who had a tiny blush on his face. A sudden idea formed in her eyes as she looked over at her sensei, who was smiling proudly at her as she bounced Sachiro on her knee just behind where Naruto was standing.

"Well, Naruto-kun, who did _you _think it was for?" Hinata purred, somehow still managing to seem demure and classy while she sauntered over to him. She stopped just short of their chests brushing. He gulped.

"I – um, that is to say… er…" Even though she wasn't touching him, he could feel her presence so close to his own, and he was reacting to her. He wanted to be closer to her, but somehow, couldn't get his feet to move.

"I thought it would be fairly obvious, didn't you?" Her voice was less demure and more sultry now; he could see Kiba from the edge of his vision, leaning in to catch her words.

His eyes widened. She couldn't possibly mean –

"Clearly, that was a kiss meant for someone very precious to me."

His heart skipped a beat.

"…Sachiro!" Bypassing the stunned blonde cheerfully, Hinata swooped down and kissed Kurenai and then her son on the cheek; Kurenai, Kakashi and Asuma were smirking. Little Sachiro giggled, but it sounded more like a cackle to Naruto. Hinata turned around to address her former classmates and their teachers.

"Sasuke and I have to meet with the Hokage in a minute, so I'll see you in a few… ja!"

She blurred into motion and moved toward the Kage box. Naruto was standing stock still, apparently unable to move.

"Soooo… _Naruto_…" Kiba put on his sleazy game-show host voice. "The girl you liked just totally burned you in front of all your friends… and your teacher… and your friends' teachers! What are you gonna do next?"

A stream of babble came out of Naruto's mouth as his thoughts recollected themselves.

_Did HINATA just do that to me? Did HINATA just totally prank me? Did I totally just FALL for it like an IDIOT?!_

Kiba and the others continued to try and get a rise out of him, to no avail. He was lost in his own little world for at least another full minute before he spoke again _and_ made sense.

"…she's so amazing!" cried the blonde out of nowhere, looking as if Christmas had come early – and he had gotten the exact thing he wanted.

* * *

"Hokage-sama!" 

Hinata and Sasuke had appeared in the booth, both of them smiling (or, as in Sasuke's case, smirking.)

"What did you think?" asked the jinchuuriki girl cheerily. "We've been working on the routine for the past two weeks, and I thought that it all came together rather nicely… though at the end, one of us was supposed to win. Oh well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers, ne? It all turned out okay in the end."

"I have a question out of pure curiosity," said the Hokage, the gambling addict within her hungering for answers. "Which one of you was supposed to win?"

"I wanted it to be Sasuke," said Hinata at once. "That way, people would underestimate me, which would lead to my ultimately having an advantage of surprise over them, which I like to have."

"It's strange, because the last time we did a spar of about that same caliber, Hinata was the loser. So something must've happened in the interim." Sasuke's face was vaguely contemplative. Both of them incorrectly judged Tsunade's expression as one of thinking. In reality, it was a cover-up for her pout.

_D__am__n__! Good thing they tied, because my money was on Hinata. _

"Well, you both performed wonderfully. Welcome to chuunin-hood. Before I can officially promote you to jounin, though, you have to go on some missions… though you'll need a jounin guide for your first official mission as chuunin…"

"Who did you have in mind, Hokage-sama?" Hinata had a very bad feeling about this…

The blonde smiled. "Why, Uzumaki Naruto of course!"

* * *

Do you know what day it is today? International Review _Prodigals_ Day! So get in the spirit and press that little button, wouldja? 

**Chidori**** Dangan** – Bullet Chidori.

**Hotaru**** no ****Kaiten** – Kaiten of the Firefly.

**San-en no Jutsu** – Jutsu of the Three Monkeys. Those three monkeys are the 'hear no evil', 'speak no evil', 'see no evil' monkeys of Japanese mythology.

**Shugohakke ****Rokujyu ****Yonshou**– this is Hinata's attack from the waterfall girl/Kamizuru Bee clan filler arc. Lit: Guardian of Eight Divination Seals: Sixty-Four Strikes.

**Habataku**** Chidori**** – **Flapping Chidori (one thousand birds).I'm not sure when Sasuke uses this, but it is an official move, just like the Shugohakke above, and unlike _Chidori __Dangan_, _Hotaru__ no __Kaiten _and _San-en no Jutsu_, the three of which are mine. If, for some reason, you want to use my lame attacks… please ask first, okay?


	8. 07: Lament of the Lovelorn & The Mission

Didn't think I'd be back so "quickly" didja? Well, here it is... ENJOY! (And review. That's realllll nice. It's also the reason I got this chapter up so quickly.

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

**Chapter 07**

_Part One: Lament of the Lovelorn  
Part Two: The Mission Begins  
_

* * *

"Kunai." 

"Check."

"Senbon."

"Check."

"Shuriken."

"Check."

"Civilian clothes."

"Check."

"Summoning scrolls."

"Check."

"Camping supplies."

"Check."

"Racy lingerie."

"Check."

Sasuke looked at his partner with a suspicious expression. "Okay, now I know for sure something's wrong."

Hinata stared into her bag sightlessly. "Check," she said.

"Oi, Hinata. Hi-na-ta. Wake up and smell the ramen."

"Eh?"

"This is completely hopeless. I'm getting Naru –"

"NO!"

Hinata had leapt up as soon as his mouth had begun to form the syllables of Naruto's name. Her cheeks were flushed red with anger as she glared at him and shook an accusatory, warning finger.

Sasuke looked at her for a moment. "Narut –"

"No-no-_no_! I have everything, we're done with the checking!" She practically screamed at him.

"… is it – "

"_No_, it is not that time of the month! I just didn't sleep well is all."

"If that's the case, you haven't been sleeping well for over a week and a half. Seriously. What is the problem?"

She looked at him finally, steeling her expression into a relaxed state. "Nothing. Just I am just having some trouble sleeping in our new environment. We've haven't lived in Konoha for years! That's it."

This was a very true statement - partially. She was having trouble sleeping, but it wasn't because of the "environment". Recently, her dreams had taken a turn for the negative. She had never told Sasuke this, but she had a sort of 'dream-friend' who helped her sleep sometimes; he would talk to her until her nightmares of her Kumogakure prison had gone away and she got some rest. She suspected it was a side effect of having a bijuu inside of her body. With the absence of this 'dream-friend', she had slept rather badly the past couple of weeks.

However, while this was a true statement, it wasn't the_ entire_ truth of the situation.

Naruto, as always, was at the center of her world; and Naruto, as always, seemed to be totally unaware of the fact. He paid her almost no attention and started flirting outrageously with Yuugito (did she really mean that little to him? Was she not even worthy of his time anymore?) – or at least, that was how it had appeared to her eyes. Strangely enough, the Cloud-born girl didn't seem to thrive on his attention as she had previously; in fact, she seemed distant and slightly uncomfortable when talking to the boisterous blonde. Maybe they were breaking up…?

But that didn't matter anyway, because Hinata had decided in the midst of her fight with Yuugito that she had been hurt by Naruto enough times, whether he was conscious of the fact or not, and while he would always have a special place in her heart, she just couldn't bear to love him like that anymore. It only hurt her more than she already was, which happened to be quite a bit.

_I can still do this,_ she thought to herself. _He can still be the center of my world. __Just not the center of my heart.__ Naruto-kun, you will always be my guiding light, my inspiration, the goal to which I aspire… but I won't – no, I can't love you anymore. _

She prayed that he could somehow hear and understand her message (though that was quite impossible), and started, once again, to go through the things in her bag periodically. _Kunai, check… __senbon__, check… shuriken, check…_

* * *

"So you'll be staying in Konoha for the moment, Yuugito-chan?" asked Sakura kindly as the blonde exited Naruto's favorite place to eat, Ichiraku Ramen. The other woman nodded. 

"Yes. I hope I will find a place here soon… not to say that you and Naruto-kun haven't been supportive, Sakura-chan, because you two have been a Solis-sent gift to me! …I want to be accepted by everyone in the village. I mean, I know that Konoha has had some trouble with Kumo in the past, but I just want to put that village behind me…"

"Don't worry about it, Yuugito-chan. You'll always have Team 7 to count on, remember that."

Yuugito smiled superficially at Sakura, who seemed to accept it at face value. "There you go, cheer up! Well, I'll see you later. Tsunade-shishou is expecting me soon. Ja!"

The pink-haired kunoichi took off. Yuugito looked behind her at Naruto. He was clearly on another planet. Though he had followed her attempts at conversation fairly well for the average person, he was strangely distant from his usual attentiveness. However, he had been following the two kunoichi as they spoke without much energy or enthusiasm; his movements were listlessly and thoughtless – he was preoccupied, even while he dined voraciously on Ichiraku Teuchi's finest. He was thinking about that _Hinata_ again.

The woman smiled sadly. _It appears that I really don't have any chance. I should just stay out of it. Try to move on. _

Yuugito had tried – and failed – numerous times to hint at Naruto's incompatibility with Hinata, and how he would be so much happier if they were together. All hints had flown far, far above his head. She had smiled ruefully. Well, she didn't love him for his perceptiveness. She decided to confront him directly about it.

-

_She requested a walk through the park with him quietly. He didn't understand why Sakura shot such a sad glance at Yuugito __as__ they left. _

_They had been walking for a few minutes, Naruto looking curiously at Yuugito every few seconds, energy apparent in his every step. He didn't seem to notice the women whose jaws dropped as he passed, nor the jealous glances __he garnered__ from more than a few men. She smiled fondly. Then again, his cluelessness was part of his charm. _

_"Naruto-kun."_

_They had stopped in front of an empty park bench overlooked by a __sakura__ tree with barren branches.__ It had just recently shed its beautiful flowers, leaving the ground a sea of whitish-pink with patches of green grass interrupting it. _

_"Pretty scenic spot you picked out!" said Naruto cheerfully. "What's the occasion?"_

_"Take a seat." He did as she said__. Yuugito grasped onto his hands firmly, which seemed to startle him. _

_"I care about you a lot, Naruto-kun." She looked up into his eyes, hoping to see the familiar warmth that she found there every time someone admitted that they cared for him. She was disappointed. His eyes were sad, bordering on cold. _

_"For years – _years! – _I've cared about you! The longer I know you, th__e more I can't help but – but –__"_

_"Yuugito…"_

_"I can't help but fall more and more in love with you! What I can't understand is how someone who hasn't even been around for years and years can just come and take you away from me! Before those two came back, we were getting closer, I know we were, and then suddenly –"_

_"Yuugito!" he said sharply. She instantly stopped talking. __"We were getting closer… just not in the way you wanted it to be. You'll always be my close friend, but that's it.__ You don't know me like you want to…__"_

_"And she does?!"_

_"She – understands things. And I need her," he said truthfully. "Somewhere, there's a great guy and he's waiting for you. You just have to find him."_

_Yuugito knew she was losing. But she wasn't used to losing, and she didn't like the feeling, so she pushed that little tidbit of information to the back of her head using the "Denial Lobe" of the brain. Maybe… using a little bit of trickery… (__a__ very small voice in the back of her head told her that this would be a__ very__ good idea. She listened.)_

_Tears started to form in her eyes. "N-Naruto…" she said breathily, sobbing slightly as a slight flush invaded her cheeks. Naruto paused, eyes widening. For a moment, she had __an uncanny resemblance to__ - _

_"__**Stop!**__" he said, and for the first time ever, Yuugito felt Naruto's anger directed toward her. He was glaring at her. Glaring! _

_"Yuugito, I respect you as a friend and a person, but if you ever do that again, I won't be held accountable for my actions,"__ he nearly hissed. "I don't have romantic feelings for you – please drop the subject. I'll find someone __else to escort you around Konoha for the remainder of the day," he finished formally before turning on his heel and walking away. She could see the barely contained anger in every step he took. _

I've ruined my last chance.

_She did then what love-struck girls are apt to do. She put her head in her hands and cried. _

-

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yuugito-san," he said stiffly, snapping out of his reverie. She flinched. "I believe we've reached your destination," she said, very quietly. He either didn't notice or pointedly took no note of the quaver in her voice.

"Thank you."

He turned away after giving her an unnaturally soft-spoken and cold goodbye. His mood resembled that of his former, emotionless self – that is, until he caught sight of Sasuke and Hinata, waiting patiently for him by the Great Gate. His eyes brightened; his lips upturned in a wide smile that showed off his sharp canines. Yuugito watched all of this happen with a look of subtly resigned depression.

After he had rescued her from the Akatsuki, very nearly dead and only alive by the grace of the Nekomata, she was instantly indebted to him. During the week it took to get her to the Konoha hospital, she became totally infatuated with him. In the month of recovery that followed, she had slowly fallen in love with him. The feeling had only increased day by day, year by year. She had felt hope when Sakura said that his eyes were warmest around her; but that was before _she _had returned, and Yuugito now realized that his eyes were warm around her not because he was in love, but because he was empathetic to a fellow jinchuuriki.

_Goodbye, Naruto. Goodbye forever._

"Hey guys! Ready to go?"

* * *

Naruto was quiet. 

This fact was making both of his mission partners distinctly nervous and unsettled. Sakura had told both of them about the time when Naruto was cold, seeming unfeeling, and mostly silent. They had listened with an air of polite incredulity, but now it seemed as though Sakura hadn't been joking around. This new, professional Naruto was a definite departure from the loud, boisterous Naruto of old.

"Are you alright?" he asked Hinata, mostly expressionless except for a soft look in his eyes that she could not identify. Hinata averted her eyes.

"Sort of… I mean… you're…um…"

"I'm…?"

She trailed off into mumbling.

"What was that?" He was listening attentively, hoping to figure out why they were both so tense, she especially so.

"You're too quiet," Sasuke snapped at him. "You're all… _serious_. And stuff. It's too different from what we're used to. Plus, Hinata feels doubly out of sorts because we're not her team. She's used to Kiba and Shino, it's the only team she remembers from Konoha."

Naruto blinked. "Oh." He turned to look at Hinata. She looked sheepishly up at him from behind a curtain of her indigo hair. _Sorry_, she seemed to say.

"Would this help?"

There was a poof of smoke, and suddenly Sasuke and Naruto were not standing next to her anymore. Kiba and Shino were standing there, as well as a former rock that had been henge'd into Akamaru. She laughed out loud, the sound pealing prettily through the forest. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled at "Kiba".

"Ah, thank you Naruto-kun, but that won't be necessary."

He was grinning stupidly and the grin continued as he released the henge.

"Idiot," Sasuke mumbled.

"Shut up, ya bastard," Naruto shot back, unconcerned. His entire posture was now relaxed, hands locked together behind his head and a little slouch to his shoulders. He seemed more human. The grin on his face rather than the blank slate helped immensely with this image.

Hinata exhaled quietly, releasing the tension she didn't know she was harboring as she continued to smile softly.

At least one thing was finally back to normal.

-

It took them approximately five days to reach the Hi no Kuni – Tsuchi no Kuni border alternately walking and running. The trio proceeded to walk on foot to the nearest town and the place where their contractor resided, Ukiyo-no-Urami. They walked mostly for Sasuke's benefit; much to his chagrin, he now appeared to have the least amount of stamina amongst the three of them (the fact that his stamina was nothing to sneer at put in perspective just how super-powered this team was. Perhaps Tsunade had made a mistake in forming this particular squad…).

Hinata eyed the stiff Uchiha in front of her, noting his posture and other little things about his attitude and body language that gave him away. He was tired. He would sleep soundly tonight, she was positive; she would have to talk to Naruto about letting him have first watch, so he could sleep the rest of the night uninterrupted.

She turned her head slightly to glance at the blonde, only to find him already watching her. Her cheeks flushed a bit, which made him smile, before she flicked her head toward Sasuke. Naruto nodded understandingly.

"Yo, Sasuke!"

The dark-haired man turned around; a trace of sullenness lined his face. Naruto grinned.

"We're gonna split up for a bit, investigate the town," said the blonde. "I want you to find us a good inn where we can stay; by the looks of this place, whoever this Mitsuhide Akechi is won't have the room to spare for us."

Sasuke nodded and disappeared in a flicker of movement. Hinata turned to face Naruto.

"Thank you. He needs time to heal his wounded ego," she said. "Did you really want to explore the village in better detail? Or was that just your excuse?"

"No, I really would like for you to poke your nose in places, if you're not against the idea. I'll scope out the west side of town." He had noticed earlier that it was the more crime-prone, seedier portion of Ukiyo-no-Urami; it would be better for Hinata simply to steer clear of that district altogether.

She rolled her eyes, suspecting his thoughts. "Whatever you say, Naruto-kun."

Ukiyo-no-Urami was a small, small village, the closest village to the edge of the Fire Country. After the great wars between their respective hidden villages, nobody was too keen on building homes close to the other. The landscape was mostly brown and grey, uninviting; the people here didn't like newcomers. They didn't like change. They were solid, dependable, yet stubborn. Their personalities definitely resembled earth, just as the name of their country suggested. Hinata wondered wryly if the people here had a "Will of Rock", just as back in Konoha there existed a Will of Fire.

Five minutes later she was perusing the streets of East Ukiyo-no-Urami, also known as Ukiyo. Of course, using her ninja skills she was virtually undetectable to the townspeople, but she got the scope of the place well enough. It was laid out in a grid-like fashion, making her think that the city itself had been planned from the beginning, or perhaps it had just been this portion. The townspeople, while they did not reflect the vibrant, welcoming, and cheerful attitude of Konoha civilians, seemed well-adjusted enough, if a little more quiet than her home villagers.

Some of the buildings suggested a relatively lavish lifestyle in the impoverished Earth nation. One house in particular caught her eye; it looked to be the biggest building in town, taking into consideration both sides of the city. It was built in the style of Classical architecture, just like her one-time home, the Hyuuga Compound, though it was nowhere near as large. The wood was especially dark, and she realized that it must've been especially imported; trees were rare in Tsuchi no Kuni and, by extension, wood.

From her perch on the southernmost edge of the wall surrounding this little enclosure, Hinata admired the way the exotic dark wood made a sharp contrast to the pale yellow tinge of the stone walls and the sharp white of the shoji doors. It was really a work of art, though it could've done with more vegetation in her humble opinion. Hinata loved the terrain of her homeland, which was severely lacking here.

With a sigh, she slipped silently away from the house, stealthily making her way back to the shopping district of the town. She had situated herself in the dark alley between a shop that sold wigs and the local blacksmith when she felt the chilling metal of a katana on her neck.

"Come with us… or die."

* * *

"Naruto." 

The blonde turned and glanced into the shadowy alleyway on his right.

"Bastard." They shared a secret grin of brotherly understanding before Sasuke stepped into the light. "I've found a place that'll be suitable for the time being; the room I got only has two beds, but we can work it out, I'm sure."

"Ohhh, yeah… we'll work it out, for sure…" said Naruto, a strange grin overtaking his face while his cheeks were a light pink. Sasuke scowled at him.

"Pervert. Touch her like that without her consent and I'll fucking kill you."

"Ooh, touchy touchy! Don't worry about it, I'd never try anything like that 'without her consent'. But if I ever happen to get her consent…"

"I'll get my own room," muttered the brunette, turning to hide the embarrassed blush on his cheeks. Naruto's still-perverted grin was a mile wide.

"Atta boy! Now, let's go find Hinata-chan."

"We should just head on and find Mitsuhide."

"Eh? What about Hinata-chan?"

"She likes to wander off sometimes, to think. She'll find her way to wherever we are."

"If you say so. Look, his directions point us toward Ukiyo. C'mon."

The Konoha shinobi were soon flying over the rooftops toward the house of Mitsuhide Akechi, not knowing it was the same large home that Hinata had observed earlier. When they arrived about one minute later at their destination, they were both surprised at the lavishness of their building in comparison to others in the small town.

"Maybe he'll have room for us after all," said Sasuke, mildly surprised. The inn was a good fall back if for some reason they couldn't stay at the mini mansion; sometimes, he and Hinata felt uneasy in these large houses anyway. It reminded both of them too much of their childhoods.

Naruto stepped up to the gate and knocked, loud and clear. Almost immediately, a haggard-looking woman entered. She might have been beautiful once, but age and harsh living had taken their toll on her. Her once-blonde hair was frayed and graying, pulled back in a low ponytail. The skin of her hands looked cracked and rough, unused to such a harsh environment. Crows' feet lined her eyes and mouth, which was turned down in a grimace. Despite her small stature, they soon found out when she dragged them in by their wrists that she had hidden strength.

"Come in, come in, don't hang around the doorstep like that!" she hissed at them. Her sharp brown eyes examined the two of them mercilessly.

"We were told that Tsunade would send three shinobi," said the woman suspiciously.

"Our last team member is still scouting the area, ma'am," answered Naruto instantly. His voice was polite with a hidden undercurrent of annoyance. Sasuke suppressed a smirk.

"I see," she said, dropping their wrists out of her iron grip. "And when will he be back, hm?"

"I'm not inclined to reveal the details of the mission to you, ma'am. I'll need to speak to Mitsuhide Akechi, as he's the one who contracted us."

She huffed angrily. "Fine! I'll take you to my good-for-nothing husband if you want." She began to stomp off angrily, not even gesturing for the two of them to follow. Naruto sighed.

"Pleasant lady, isn't she?" murmured Sasuke.

"Yeah, she's really great." The deadpan sarcasm wasn't missed.

For all the outward appearances of the mansion, it seemed to be fairly simple on the inside. It took only about half a minute to reach its innermost rooms, apparently where this woman's "worthless husband" resided. Pulling open the door, she hit her head with her palm, frustrated.

"Akechi!" she shrieked at the man, who was asleep at his desk, drool leaking out of the side of his mouth. He jumped up at her scream, wiping his mouth in reflex before looking up at the two interlopers. His leaf-green eyes were wide and kind, and blinked furiously as he slipped on silver, wire-rimmed glasses. His hair was long and black with streaks of dark-grey at the temples; he had aged infinitely better than his bitter, jaded wife.

"Thank you, Miyuki my love," said the man, shooting the woman a thankful, doting look. "Forgive my slovenly ways!" She huffed again and pushed her way passed Naruto and Sasuke rudely, not bothering to excuse herself.

"You'll have to forgive my wife," said Akechi, standing up to welcome the two ninja into the study. His form was tall and skinny, and his elaborate formal clothing seemed to overpower him. "She's been in foul mood as of late, because of all these dangerous happenings… Please, please come in!"

"I am Mitsuhide Akechi, the mayor of Ukiyo-no-Urami and I hired you to help me figure out why people keep disappearing in my town."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded; they had read as much in the report Tsunade have given them.

"However… I requested this as an A-rank mission because, frankly, the townspeople have become restless and unruly; they don't listen to me anymore, and I think they may attempt to… to…"

"Incite rebellion?" Naruto tried to finish. Akechi nodded. "Exactly." His voice was weak and tired. For the first time they noticed the dark circles around his eyes, in contrast with his smiling, healthily colored cheeks.

"We're here to do whatever we can. Is there anybody who witnessed the kidnappings that we could talk to?"

"I have a list," began the man hesitantly. "But it will be a miracle if you can get them to listen to you."

"We'll take the list," said Sasuke without expression. "We have ways of getting people to talk."

"Not anything that will hurt them," added Naruto quickly, seeing the horrified look on Akechi's face. "Things that mimic hypnotism, stuff like that. Nothing violent." Naruto glared at Sasuke as Akechi put his head in his hands, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Is there anything else you'll want us to know?" the blonde interjected smoothly.

"Oh, _I don't know, _maybe something about Iwagakure ANBU should be included," hissed a feminine and distinctly pissed-off voice from the shadows of the room. Naruto and Sasuke immediately stood at attention and rushed over to her.

"Hinata-chan!"

"Hinata…"

There was a cut across her face and a quickly-yellowing bruise on her ankle, but otherwise she seemed fine.

"What the hell happened?"

"Didn't you hear me? Iwagakure ANBU squads are patrolling the streets of Ukiyo-no-Urami. In fact, one just tried to accost me as I was going to meet up with you," Hinata growled out. The Gobi let out of a pleased growl in the back of her head; she'd been itching for a fight recently, and her appetite hadn't been sated by the pathetic squad. Mitsuhide looked shocked.

"What! I knew that they were running the streets, but I had no idea – none at all, you simply must believe me –"

"Why don't you start explaining, because I don't like those who double-cross terribly well," said Hinata. Her voice was still shaking with restrained anger.

"For as long as I've been mayor the Tsuchikage assigned them here, seeing as we're so close to the border. Seemed to think that we would send out our jobs to Konoha instead of Iwagakure –"

"And you didn't see fit to mention this in the preliminary report?"

"It didn't think it was so important! I had no idea they would attack foreign shinobi!"

His eyes were shining at her, imploring her to understand what he was saying, to believe him. The old Hinata would've been taken in. The new Hinata decided to let him believe he had her trust for now… but she would be keeping an eye on him. Two, actually.

"One more question." She loosened her stance slightly, and the man relaxed with her.

"Yes, anything, anything at all!"

She looked at him with a cold smile, and his own relieved grin faded slightly.

"Who are the people hiding behind that wall?"

* * *

Translation time!**  
Ukiyo****-no-****Urami**** – **Ukiyo – this sad life, this transient life; Urami – bitterness. Altogether, "Bitterness of this Sad Life". Great name, eh? 

Well, as to the HanabiSasukeSakura debate, I've decided to leave it up in the air for now… SasuSaku is a good solid pairing, but it's so overdone, and I really want to expand upon the interaction of SasuHanabi. But SasuSaku would be so much easier, and I'm sooo lazy… as you can see, I'm still torn. I'll probably just make it a love triangle… but **if you have any last requests**** put them in now, before it's too late!**

Wow, guys, thanks for all the reviews I got for last chapter! They were what really inspired me to finish this so much more quickly than the other ones. And sorry about the Yuugito-heavy first part… I swear I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I kinda like to play with her as a character. I guess I'm setting her up for interaction with another character – nudge nudge wink wink! But since you probably aren't reading this, as author's notes tend to get long and rambling, you missed that hint. So it sucks to be you!

Ciao! Panda out!

FPC


	9. 08: Strange Relations

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

**Chapter 08**

_Strange Relations_

* * *

Akechi blinked. "Eh?"

"People. In this room. Hiding behind _that _wall." She gestured very specifically and forcefully to the wall behind his desk.

"Wha – ohhh! Akeno, Akemi, please come out and greet our guests. I'm sure you'll be working in close contact with them for the time being."

A portion of the wall was pushed forward and slid to the right, revealing a narrow passageway with just enough space for broad-shouldered Naruto to slip through. Through it came the two children of Akechi and Miyuki, both dressed in clothes similar to their parents. The boy, Akeno, was tall and slim, built much like Sasuke. His skin was pale and his hair was dark, increasing his resemblance to the Avenger; his eyes, however, were the same verdant green as his father's eyes. Naruto thought that if Sasuke ever worked up the guts to marry Sakura (she was hella scary, after all) their son might look something like Akeno.

The girl was different from her brother, the only resemblance being the green eyes. Her hair was the straw-yellow color that her mother might've once had, and her form was petite with minimal curves. She would've looked fragile and delicate if not for her bold stance and the flirtatious glint in her green eyes as she surveyed the newcomers. If he ever had a child with Sakura… she might look like Akemi. Naruto fought back a shudder (they weren't very manly). _Ewwww. Sakura is SO not dating material. At least, not for me._

"Mitsuhide Akeno," said Akechi's son as he stepped forward, who seemed to be on the edge between boyhood and manhood. His gate was a little more awkward than his majestic stance had suggested.

"And that makes me Mitsuhide Akemi," purred the girl. She slinked next to her father. "Pleasure to meet you all, I'm so very sure."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the team leader," the blonde offered, not charmed by her attitude in the slightest. He kept his gaze cool and calm as Akemi looked him up and down.

"Uchiha Sasuke." This name seemed to perk up Akeno. He paid more attention to Sasuke immediately.

"Hinata." Everyone turned to look at her. She accepted the attention without a hint of insecurity. Naruto admired this change in her, but at the same time wondered what happened to her surname.

"Unfortunately, I have a meeting with some prominent members of the community," Akechi said with a wince. "I will leave you with my two children; both of them were witness to separate kidnappings. I'll assume you'll want to question them?"

"Yeah, that'd be good," said Naruto easily. "How long do you plan to be away?"

"Several hours."

"I hope your meeting goes well, Mitsuhide-san," murmured Hinata quietly as she bowed low. This was really an excuse to activate her bloodline limit and take a closer look around the house. Keeping her stance, Hinata realized that there were several hidden passages inside the house itself, and all of them could be detected without much trouble by both Naruto and Sasuke. She decided to hold off on telling them until later.

"Thank you for your support… I'm sure I'll need it! Well, I'm off."

With that, the cheerful man sped out of the room, looking slightly haggard.

"How would you like to conduct this interview, Uzumaki-san?" asked Akeno, correctly assuming that Naruto was leading the mission. His voice was soft, somewhat like his father's, but opposite to Akechi's in that it was colder, more calculating, like his mother.

"Well, I think I'd like a tour of the house first, please!"

"Very well. I'll contact Megumi-san –"

"No, no, no! I'd rather have the both of you give us the tour, if you don't mind. Do talk to – Megumi-san, was it? – and ask her to come here… Hinata-san can talk to her." They had reverted to the –san suffix for the mission; it was better than nobody but themselves knew how close they were.

Akeno frowned. "As you wish, Naruto-san." He quickly strode out of the room. Naruto turned back to face Akemi and found she was smiling at him strangely. Her smiled seemed…

"Hel-_lo_ there, cutie!"

…lascivious.

"Hello," he replied without much expression. She pouted before turning her attention away from him.

"I'm ever so glad father hired shinobi to help us with our problems, especially ones as attractive as you," she continued, as if unaware that all three ninja were becoming quite uncomfortable with her little speech. Her eyes roved over Naruto, then Sasuke, and finally Hinata.

"But I think you're the cutest!" said Akemi with a short little laugh to the stunned Hinata.

"…eh?"

"These boys seemed pretty wrapped up in the other, if you know what I mean," said Akemi offhandedly. "Why don't you take a walk with _me_, Hinata-chan?"

The former Hyuuga was at a loss for words. She opened her mouth, decided against whatever she was going to say, and closed it again. This process was repeated several times. She had never seen Sasuke as a rival in love, but…

"I can see you're speechless… don't worry, I have better things planned than talking," Akemi purred. She was leaning in closer and closer to Hinata, lips pursed expectantly, before the kunoichi snapped to her senses and jumped behind Sasuke, peering out from behind his elbow cautiously. There was a bright, embarrassed flush on her cheeks. Akemi made a move to step closer, but Sasuke shifted his body and scowled. "Back off," he semi-growled at the forward girl. She fluttered her eyelashes at him, which made him take a wary step back and almost sent him stumbling over Hinata. Naruto, watching all this, had started to laugh.

"You're bi?" asked the blonde man, still chuckling. He had seen many weirder sexual orientations than that – especially on his trip with Jiraiya – but Sasuke and Hinata seemed absolutely scandalized. Akemi nodded, still grinning.

"Are you gay?" she shot back curiously.

"NO!" shouted both Sasuke and Naruto together. "We're just close," Naruto managed, humor all but disappeared. Akemi grinned apologetically.

"Oh. Sorry!"

"Akemi-chan, I hope you're not bothering our guests."

Akemi whirled around playfully. "Of course not, brother!"

Akeno had returned, their house's one servant trailing behind him respectfully. Megumi was an older, thickset woman with thick grey hair in a large bun on her forehead. Her brown eyes were sharp with intelligence, but she still seemed warm enough. She was currently reviewing the three intruders with a critical eye.

"This is our childhood nurse who stayed on as cook and gardener for our family," said Akeno quietly. Megumi bowed politely, but not very deeply.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto, the mission leader. His subordinates are Uchiha Sasuke and Hinata."

"You two related?" Megumi asked of Sasuke and Hinata. Her voice was rough from many years' use and probably from the damage they could see on her neck. It looked as though somebody had slit her throat and she had survived.

"Distantly," answered Sasuke. He didn't elaborate, which irritated Megumi. "Her last name isn't Uchiha, if that's what you're asking." It sounded that way, from the way in which Akeno had introduced them.

"Then what is your surname, girl?"

"I don't really have one."

"Orphan?"

"No, my family just dislikes me." Sasuke snorted loudly. _Dislike? What a fucking understatement. _Hinata glared at him. Megumi, however, had softened.

"Tch, poor thing. Walk with me to the kitchens and I'll make some tea." Grabbing Hinata gently by the elbow, she steered the pale girl out of the room and away.

"I guess that leaves me to give you the tour of the house!" said Akemi too sweetly. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a fearful glance that was full of meaning.

"I think I should come along as well," said Akeno. "You might forget things, with a head like yours."

Akemi pouted again. "Nii-chan, you're so mean to me! Fine, we'll all go." She flounced angrily out of the doorway, still managing to sway her hips enticingly and blow the two shinobi a kiss over her shoulder as she did so.

"My apologies. My sister has been confined to the house quite a bit as of late, and being cooped up has not been good for her."

"Yeah, we could see that."

* * *

She would do it tonight.

Nobody would have to know. Her body, finally decayed and rotting, would be found days, weeks later. It's not like anyone but Sakura-san would mourn her loss anyway. And this would just be altogether better for Konoha, with her home village being on the hunt for her and all. Apparently she still had some value.

_No,_ thought Yuugito bitterly. Kumo probably just wanted her back to study the damage to her seal and then execute her. She'd seen the underbelly, the depths of madness to which her village had plunged. It had been a shockingly horrible break from the projected images she'd been fed without count as a child; Kumo is good, Kumo is the bringer of light to all the heathens! Isn't it wonderful that we can educate them? We will show them the Light of Solis, and they will understand, they will _know_! Kumogakure is ALL.

No.

No, no, no.

It was sick, their experimentations. Sick as Orochimaru.

Of course, there were always the backhanded little jibes directed only at her.

_It's so great that you're finally being of use to us, Yuu-chan! _

_Yeah! We can use you to tell all the heathens in the Godaikoku about Solis… that's all you're really good for, you know?_

All she had ever been to her village was a tool. People had mostly been indifferent or hateful to her, Nii Yuugito, the little girl, the troubled teenager. People had been ecstatic about the Nibi no Nekomata, the restrained beast, the perfect weapon.

But she was never going to give them that chance, their last opportunity to squeeze all use out of her. Come to think of it, that applied to every man, woman, and child in Kumo. Everyone submitted themselves to the Raikage slavishly to obtain utter cohesiveness as a whole. She'd never questioned it until her discovery and subsequent escape.

Really, the question now was how to do it. As a kunoichi, she'd learned a thousand and one ways to kill a man. As the container of the Nibi, she'd learned a thousand more. All of those choices, however, were usually to be used against another ninja as opposed to oneself.

She could always goad a fellow ninja into killing her… but that idea held to no appeal. Killing was not something she enjoyed. She would not force it on anyone else, especially not in the village which had been so kind to her.

Yuugito, wandering around in her mindless state, failed to notice that she was about to –

"OUCH!"

- walk straight into someone. She fell back on the ground with a thump and realized that her nose was throbbing with pain. Touching a hand to it, she quickly assessed that it was broken. She looked up to glare at her assailant.

"Sorry about that, I really wasn't –"

"Watching where you were going? Yeah, I can see that," she hissed angrily at the brunette ninja. He scowled right back at her.

"Well, excuuuuse me! You weren't exactly being the most attentive ninja ever – if you were, you could've avoided me. Hey!" he said suddenly, leaning down and squinting at her. "You're that kunoichi that Team 7's pretty tight with, aren't you?"

At the reminder of Naruto, the fight left her completely. She hung her head shamefacedly.

"We used to be," she said quietly, looking away. "Sorry for bothering you, I'll be going now."

"Hey, wait just a minute! I was kinda being rude before, I owe you an apology… and maybe more, it looks like your nose is broken! My sister's not a people-doctor, but she'll be able to fix you up just the same."

Yuugito submitted with a small sigh, taking the hand he offered. "I should probably know the name of my assaulter, so I can press charges when I talk to the Hokage tomorrow," she said with slight venom in her words, looking up at him. He chuckled sheepishly.

"I'm Kiba, Inuzuka Kiba."

* * *

"Then, when I had finally come back to Konoha, they started to dislike me even more. I've given up hope with them, mostly."

Megumi looked as though she didn't know what was worse: the things this girl was saying, or the nonchalant way in which she said them.

"B-but child… who is your family? Who do you count on?"

"Shinobi form very close bonds to each other… I live in my sensei's apartment, my two former teammates and Sasuke I count as my brothers, and the other kunoichi are like my sisters. It's really not as bad as you think it is."

"Blood… blood is a very important bond, child. It's thicker than water, you know."

Hinata smiled without humor. "I know, Megumi-san. All shinobi are bound by blood."

The older woman was speechless.

"I have some questions for you, now that you know my story. How long have you been employed here?"

"For about 18 years… after Miyuki-sama started to be impaired by her pregnancy with Akeno, they hired me to help around the house. After Akeno was born, they had me stay on as a nanny, cook, and housekeeper."

"What does Miyuki-san do, since you take care of all the chores?"

Megumi clearly wanted to say something scathing about her mistress, but her professionalism would not allow her. "Miyuki-sama has many other things she does, like reading."

This answer didn't convince Hinata in the slightest. "I mean does she do anything useful to anyone but herself? Remember, what is said here stays between us." Using her chakra, Hinata quickly assessed that Miyuki was nowhere nearby.

"To tell you the truth, no. She was a spoiled little princess shipped here from Rain and the harsh environment and people here weren't good for her. She's gone bitter."

"Hm. How bitter?"

"Nothing like you're thinking! She loves her kids to death, but her arranged marriage to Mitsuhide-sama made her hate him so much. He's a good man, though, he really is."

Hinata, who could've easily been the victim of an arranged marriage, sympathized more with Miyuki… but she didn't reveal this aloud. "I see. Besides Akechi-san, who has political power within the town?"

"Well, there's a Council; that's made up of elders who are elected by the people. They are mostly cooperative with Mitsuhide-sama, but as of late, they've been clashing. They haven't taken to his indecisive actions well… several of their children and grandchildren have been victims of kidnappings."

"Can you tell me anything else about the kidnappings?"

"At first, it was only younger children who disappeared. Then the older ones, then young teenagers, and finally people around Akeno and Akemi's age have started to vanish. That's why Mitsuhide-sama and Miyuki-sama have been keeping them in the house. They send me out to do errands."

"I see. I don't have any more questions for you, unless there's anything else you think you should tell me…?"

"No, Hinata-san."

"Thank you for the tea, it was excellent. Shall we rejoin the others?"

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were eternally thankful that they had Akeno as a buffer to ward off his sister. She was like a starved beast yearning for attention. And not any innocent sort of attention.

"And that will conclude the tour of our house," said Akeno. "Akemi, why don't you go see if Hinata-san and Megumi-san need your help?"

It was clear that her attention had been lost after "Hinata". Her eyes were bright and a smirk curled her lips as she realized that neither Sasuke nor Naruto would be there to protect little Hinata. She giggled and skipped away.

"Again, I would like to apologize for her behavior. You needn't worry about your teammate. Megumi-san has a modicum of control over Akemi-chan that nobody else in this house has ever achieved."

Both men let out the breath they hadn't known they'd been holding in. "Thanks, Akeno-san," mumbled Naruto. "I think we're done here for today. We should probably head out… we rented a room at an inn."

"Are you sure? My father arranged some lodging for you here, if you'd like…"

"No offense to your sister, but I really don't want to be molested in my sleep. I think we'll take our chances with the populous."

Akeno's lips twitched. "Ah. I understand."

There was a decidedly feminine shriek from down the hall, followed by a loud voice proclaiming, "Don't be like that, Hina-ko!"

"Akemi! Have some restraint!"

"…sorry, Megumi-baasan."

The three women rounded the corner, Akemi being pushed forward by Megumi as Hinata trailed behind them at a safe distance. The kunoichi's steps were slow and cautious, as if expecting an attack at any second. When Sasuke attempted to catch her eye, she merely looked away, her cheeks a slight pink. A surprised smirk slipped across his face. He snickered.

"Shut up," hissed Hinata, glaring at him. Neither Akemi nor her brother or caretaker could hear what Hinata had said – she had been talking in a tone that only ninja could hear – but they could feel the negative energy. Megumi intervened.

"You should probably head along now. If you don't check in to your inn by a certain time, they may cancel the reservation."

"Eh? Is that normal?" Naruto had noticed that none of the hotels in the area were getting much business. The fact that they would cancel a reservation just for that seemed strange.

"We don't take very kindly to foreigners here. Ever since the Iwagakure ANBU came, people have shunned those who aren't from Tsuchi no Kuni, to keep them appeased. Before… nasty things would happen when we tried to oppose the Iwagakure occupation. So people mostly keep quiet now."

Megumi tried to break the uncomfortable silence with a strained grin.

"Now, you said you were looking for the Dark Horse Inn?"

* * *

The balding man sneered at the trio haughtily. "And how long will you be staying?"

"An indeterminate amount of time," Naruto answered sharply, feeling his hackles rise at the intense dislike behind the man's tone. "We'll pay you in advance for a month."

The innkeeper, still sneering – though to a lesser degree – took the proffered bills and handed them a room key. "Enjoy your stay," he said without much enthusiasm.

"Wow, cheerful guy," said Naruto quietly as he led the way up the staircase. Their room was on the topmost floor.

"I almost wish I could go back to Mitsuhide's," Hinata muttered as a man leaving his room leered at her. She didn't see Sasuke and Naruto glare fiercely at him until he looked away.

"Oh yeah? Even with Akemi?"

"I hate you, you know that?"

"What happened with her, anyway?" asked Naruto curiously, looking between the smirking Avenger and his glaring partner.

"How much?" Sasuke asked, still amused. Hinata huffed angrily and turned away from him.

"There was no tongue involved, asshole. I let my guard down while talking to Megumi-san, and her lips barely touched me."

Naruto shook his head, still slightly shocked Hinata had cursed even if it didn't show on his face. "Well, this is us: the Castle Suite." The blonde grasped the old, silver doorknob, cool to the touch, and shoved the oak door open. It was a moderately-sized room with two twin beds – unfamiliar to most Leaf shinobi, as futons were much more common – and a plain bathroom that was clean.

"Two beds." Naruto's thought processes were leading him in a bad direction. He didn't dare verbalize his own thoughts on the matter… Hinata might slap him. Or Sasuke might kill him.

"Hmmm… maybe we should ask for a cot."

"Or _maybe _we can be adults and take turns sharing," Hinata suggested. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and seemed to come to a decision in the space of half a second. "I will not share a bed with him," they both said in unison. Hinata rolled her eyes.

"Fine. You two can share the floor, and I'll take the beds."

"But you don't need both beds!"

"Yes I do, one's for my travel pack."

He glared at her in disbelief. She smiled serenely back.

"Okay, seriously."

"You and I can share a bed. Team leader can have one to himself."

"Ugh."

"What? We've had tighter quarters than this."

"I know… but I smell like a girl after I sleep in the same bed as you."

"So? You kick in your sleep all the time! Plus, I can see all those weird dreams you have."

"That's not my fault you have a freaky de - thing, now is it?!"

"Guys, guys… relax." Naruto, who had been watching their reactions very carefully, chose this moment to intervene. Clearly, they were keeping something from him; but he wanted them to tell him themselves, not to reveal it inadvertently. He wanted them to trust him. Plus, Naruto would not let himself even think of the prospect of sharing a bed with Hinata, despite what he had said to Sasuke earlier that day. Their relationship was too fledgling for that sort of thing. He didn't want to kill it off before it really started. Her solution of sharing a bed with Sasuke while he got his own made sense in terms of rank and closeness at this point, though he intended to change that soon.

"I'm sure we can work something out. As Hinata said, we're all adults here. Have been since age 12, actually. Let's just give it a try."

They spent a few hours reviewing their information thoroughly and tossing theories around before retiring from the night. Naruto ignored the pang in his chest as Sasuke and Hinata got close enough to share the narrow bed, attempting to remember that they were like siblings to each other.

"Good night, Naruto-kun, Sasuke."

"Good night, Sasuke, Hinata-chan."

"Zzzzz…oomph! 'Night, dead last, jerk."

Naruto opened one eyelid and saw Hinata roll her eyes before smiling softly at him. _Sleep well, Naruto_, she mouthed.

He returned the smile and nodded at her, closing his eyes. Maybe, with Hinata's blessing, nightmares wouldn't haunt his sleeping hours.

* * *

Three hours later he awoke covered in cold sweat. He sat up like a shot and his eyes flew to the other bed, pulse calming. No, Sasuke and Hinata were not dead; no, they had not been killed by him. They were sitting side by side on the bed. Sasuke was staring determinedly at the wall while Hinata gazed at him, watching his face from behind her long indigo bangs.

"So."

Naruto's voice echoed around the sparse space. Hinata dropped her eyes to the floor.

"Sorry to wake you." His voice was apologetic – but cold. He didn't want them to see him this way. He didn't want them to see him this _weak_. But they had, so he compensated by putting on a mask of cool indifference.

"For all the things I complain about in regard to my partner," Sasuke began abruptly, looking awkward. "She's an excellent nightmare deterrent."

The blonde's brow furrowed. "Eh?"

Hinata looked confused, too. "What _are_ you talking about?"

Silently, he motioned Hinata off the bed. She complied and stood off to one side, still not understanding. But when Sasuke started to push the two beds toward each other, she got a clue. Her lips turned upward as she walked over to the Avenger, who was staring into space uncomfortably, and squeezed his forearm in a gesture of camaraderie, kinship, and thanks.

"Well, get in then," said Sasuke gruffly.

Shuffle, shuffle. The crisp sound of bodies sliding into starched sheets. Uncomfortable silence.

"Sooo…Can I tell people you guys shared a bed?"

"_**NO!"**_

"Aww…"

* * *

The next time Naruto awoke, he could tell it was later than he normally did – around seven or eight in the morning. In his warm, sleep-fuzzed mind, he drifted for several minutes, not wanting to get up and face the day in his same little apartment that he had the day before, and the day before that, and back and back and back. He was content to imagine that Hinata was actually sleeping next to him, lying boneless and languid against him, like she belonged there. Wow, imaginary Hinata smelled pretty… and her hair felt as though it was truly brushing against his cheek –

His eyes snapped open.

_This… is not a hallucination._

Hinata, still slumbering peacefully, yawned kittenishly and turned, pressing her front against him fully. He blushed. As the Kyuubi snickered, he almost missed the other chuckle in the physical world.

"Teme. _Help."_

Sasuke continued to laugh quietly at the stricken blonde, who was torn between pleasure at his current predicament and panic at the thought of Hinata's reaction when she woke up.

"She tends to gravitate naturally toward the source of the most warmth… and that just happened to be you. Poor circulation on my part, I suppose. Bad thing, it's genetic."

"Has this happened to you before, then? Or did you always find someone warmer than you to sleep in the same bed?" hissed Naruto in sarcastic anger. Sasuke shrugged.

"We've gotten closer than that," he said. He smirked at the coldly glaring blonde. "What? Jealous?"

"Of you? No way!" He lowered his voice as Hinata frowned in her sleep and her breathing caught.

"While we're talking about it, though, how close is close?"

"You are jealous, aren't you? I wonder if Hinata knows…"

"She doesn't! And I don't want you to tell her!"

"Why not? If she thinks you're not interested, she might just move on to better boyfriend material," Sasuke said lightly, closing his eyes as he put their mission objective scroll down and leaned back against the wall. "You wouldn't want that to happen if you really are interested in her. And if you're just playing with her…"

"Don't even think about suggesting it," growled Naruto darkly, still attempting to keep his voice down. He was distracted suddenly by Hinata's release – her arms, which had previously been locked around his neck, loosened and slid away. Her body curled into a little ball and, as if on cue, she snagged the blankets from both beds and wrapped them around herself. Naruto outwardly sighed in relief, and inwardly cursed. That had been enjoyable, if distracting.

"Well, that fixes that," Sasuke said. "Why don't you go downstairs and grab us some breakfast from the buffet?"

"But I thought the concierge said breakfast had to be eaten in lobby or ordered up to the room."

"What the hell kind of ninja are you?"

"Shut the hell up! See if I bring you your precious tomatoes, Sasu-chan!" With that, the blonde stomped out of the room.

"So? How long have you been up?"

Hinata sat up in bed, sleep-mussed hair sticking in all directions. "Mmm, 'bout ten minutes or so."

There was a sleepy yet satisfied grin on her face.

"Have I convinced you yet? There's no way Naruto is still with Yuugito, if they were ever together in the first place, which I doubt."

"I know… but what if –"

"Hasn't enough of your life been wasted on what ifs? Why don't you just cut the crap and go for it with all you have for once?"

She was silent.

"Think about it."

* * *

The next few days were spent similarly to their first – interviewing people who had seen kidnappings in action or who had family members that were victims. As Mitsuhide had predicted, the townsfolk were reticent and ornery; they did not like foreign interference in their affairs. Being on the border between Hi no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni had made them wary of both villages, especially since the Third Ninja War when the Yondaime Hokage had devastated many Tsuchi no Kuni towns.

They got very little information, but all three ninja were persistent and patient, something that surprised Sasuke. He expected Naruto to be jumping up and down with boredom, eager to fight. But apparently his people skills had improved drastically. He was extremely courteous and persuasive to those he spoke to, and it often fell to the Avenger to play bad cop.

Their nights ended the same way, with the same pushed-together beds, and their days would start in the same way, with Naruto in a semi-panic as Hinata snuggled up to him, sometimes conscious of the action but usually not, as Sasuke laughed in the background.

Day after day passed until they had been in Ukiyo-no-Urami for a week and still had no leads in their investigation. Three more people had been kidnapped. In order to counter this particular affect, they decided to patrol the village constantly, especially the borders where people were usually abducted, and asked people to relegate all relevant chores that lay outside the village proper to them. Naruto's kage bushin were kept very busy.

It was near the end of the seventh day when he arrived.

The team had gathered near the Tengu Mountain Range, so named after the mythical, long-nosed, bird-like creatures that were said to have been imprisoned under the mountains by other demons. They had wanted to discuss a interesting report from a younger girl who had witness her brother disappearing. Before Hinata, the one who had heard the interview firsthand, could get a world in edgewise, Naruto's head perked up.

"You feel that?" asked the blonde with a grin.

"Mm. Good or bad?" Hinata's hair rustled slightly in the wind; she could feel the pressure changing in the air.

Naruto laughed. "A little bit of both."

To their left, a shadow flickered slightly before a broad-shouldered, white-haired man stepped out of it. Jiraiya was standing there, unusually solemn.

"Naruto, we need to talk."

Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other and then at Naruto.

"We can leave if you want…?" suggested Hinata hesitantly. Jiraiya shook his mane of white hair, looking old.

"That's fine. We'll just go back to the border for a… little chat."

"You guys can hold down the fort here, right?" Naruto was grinning, but didn't fool either of his fellows in the slightest. They were both silent as they nodded in assent. Teacher and student took off, disappearing in a flicker of shadow.

Silence reigned as Hinata quietly activated her Byakugan. Frowning, she realized she couldn't see through the large mountain range, another feature that cut off Ukiyo-no-Urami from the rest of Earth country. The rocks here must've been particularly thick…

"Hmm." Comfortable stillness claimed the moment again. "What do you think they're going to talk about?"

"Whatever it was, it seemed serious. Do you think it was about the Akatsuki?"

"Something related maybe. The Kyuubi?"

As if on cue, the ground shuddered violently beneath their feet. "What the hell! I thought Akeno said there hadn't been earthquakes here in ages!" Sasuke regained his balance gracefully, but the ground continued to grumble.

Hinata's gaze shot up the mountain range, eyeing the precarious rock formations that were beginning to crumble, as well as the houses that were built at the very base of the mountains. Her mind immediately began planning…

"No!"

She looked at her partner strangely. "What?!"

"You can't use that chakra! It'll lead them right to you!"

"But it will save these people." Her eyes were skimming over the range as the shuddering of the ground increased.

"The Akatsuki will find and kill you!"

"It will save these people!"

"What about Naruto? You're putting him in danger, too!"

This was the one thing that could stop her, her greatness weakness. He exploited his edge ruthlessly; it was so like him. But Hinata already had an answer.

"He's used to it… especially from the Akatsuki." She looked him dead in the eye.

"_I will save these people. _Whether you like it or not."

"You're killing us all by doing this! You're hurting Konoha!"

Hinata shook her head violently. She had seen too much death, too much murder, too much of the good side of human nature, simply to let everyone in this village die just so she could get away clean. Even if every single person in this village turned out to be her enemy, she would not feel bad about sparing their lives; as long as there was one person who was innocent, it would be okay. And she knew there would be one, at least. Human beings were naturally contrary. It made perfectly logical sense.

"Nobody here will die if I can help it."

* * *

"I've been doing some research… about your seal."

Naruto's hand flew to his stomach in reflex. "Yeah? What about it?" His calm façade didn't fool either him or his teacher.

"The seal is merging the power of the Kyuubi and you together."

Naruto stared at Jiraiya before dropping his hand to the side and letting the tension flow from his shoulders. "Is that it? You had to pull me out of my mission…" _And away from Hinata-chan…_ "To tell me that the fox bastard is finally surrendering all of his power to me? Why the hell would you do that!"

Jiraiya grimaced. "It's not quite that simple. Once all of its power is gone, the Kyuubi will die. And remember when I told you that when you die, the Kyuubi dies? Well, the reverse is true."

The sudden, horrible realization of that statement turned Naruto's insides to pure ice. "So… you mean to say that…"

"The Kyuubi is killing you."

Naruto was silent. But only for a moment. To the utter astonishment of Jiraiya, he chuckled, albeit darkly.

"So this is his revenge… a slow, painful death, just as I have regained two of my most precious people… damn clever."

"How can you just accept this?! Don't you want to know if anything can be done?!" The Sannin was absolutely livid – and frightened beyond belief. Minato had used this same tone and some of these same words right before that night…

"_I never really appreciated the power of age and wisdom before I met a bijuu, some of the oldest living creatures on this plain. Damn clever, aren't they?" _He'd said nonchalantly before walking to his death. It was a cold, terrible parallel.

Naruto looked into his eyes steadily. "Is there anything that can be done?"

"Well, no, but –"

"Didn't think so. How much time do I have?"

"_How can you talk about this like that? _You just said you've finally retrieved Sasuke and Hinata, have you thought about them? What about Sakura and Kakashi? Your classmates? Tsunade? Don't be so damn selfish!"

Naruto only stared at him levelly, waiting for an answer.

"…six months at least, a few years at most," answered Jiraiya begrudgingly. It was agonizing to watch another student go through this… except this time, it would be much longer and much more painful, because he knew exactly what was coming and could do nothing to stop it. Not for the first or the last time, Jiraiya cursed the Kyuubi no Youko.

"Wow! That much! I'll have time to set everything in order then…"

"Stop talking like that. Think about it all you want, but keep it to yourself." Jiraiya's posture was stiff and haughty as he turned away.

"As you wish." The boy's teasing tone turned Jiraiya's stomach. But before he could muster up the proper outrage, a huge mass of energy erupted, if he had detected correctly, directly from whence they had come. Naruto and Jiraiya exchanged wide-eyed glances before running off at speeds that even ANBU would have trouble keeping up with.

It took them ten minutes at top speed to reach Sasuke and the village, and the scene was horrifying. A huge amount of boulders and rubble was tumbling down the mountainside at breakneck speed, and Sasuke and Ukiyo-no-Urami were right in harm's way. Though the civilians had noticed and were screaming and panicking accordingly, Sasuke was unmoved, glaring balefully at the oncoming avalanche.

"Sasuke! What the f –" The rest of Naruto's words - _…are you doing?_ – were lost as a colossal wave of earth rose up to clash with the avalanche. It curved in a graceful arc, cupping the boulders as they came to rest against it.

People stopped fleeing the city to stare in awe at the dirt that moved so fluidly, as if it were water. It looked like a sentient being, a protector of the tiny little town. The townspeople cheered their approval as the wave halted the avalanche completely. It shimmered in the mid-afternoon light, the specks of various metals giving the giant undulation a pale glow; it only stopped shimmering once every last pebble had been successfully halted by it.

The screams had ceased and everyone was gathering in a rough semi-circle, waiting to see who their savior was.

"Oi! Boy!" Sasuke turned his head very slightly. He was careful not to show the old man his expression of intense disdain; that would only increase the animosity between them and the residents of Ukiyo-no-Urami.

"Yeah?" His voice was guttural and strained. Naruto could see the vein pulsing angrily at his neck. What was he so mad about? But more importantly where was Hinata?

"Was that you?"

The man's voice was filled with grudging respect and a tinge of hope.

"No. It was my idiot partner," Sasuke growled out, glaring at the rapidly crumbling wave of dirt. The little clumps of earth flowed down to the ground being absorbed effortlessly into the ground again. Soon they could see Hinata, shaking dirt out of her hair effortlessly. But something about her seemed – off.

A new kind of energy sparked around her – energy that was much like Kyuubi's, Naruto thought. Her hair seemed wilder – untamed. She wasn't looking at him, so he didn't see the fang poking her lip dangerously or the dark chakra shimmering in her eyes. Long claws adorned her fingers and toes.

"You are some kind of imbecile," hissed Sasuke darkly as he approached her. "What the hell are you thinking? You're exposing yourself completely!"

"I did what I had to do."

"No, you did the dumbass-noble thing to do! You're turning into such a fucking _Naruto_!"

The dark chakra, which had started to recede, slowly began to flow back, conscious of the new threat. Hinata felt her ire rise dangerously. This was one of the drawbacks – or was it an advantage? – of having a demon in one's body.

"Better than being a conceited, angst-filled, pretty-boy-egomaniac!"

"_Who's_ the egomaniac? _Who _sacrificed the safety of her teammates and the success of the mission because of her own needs? It damn well wasn't me!"

"If saving people is being an egomaniac, then I will gladly be one! And don't you dare talk about _needs_! Who sacrificed the safety of _the entire Leaf Village _because of his _needs_?! Cause that damn well wasn't me!"

Their faces were inches apart, despite the fact that they were yelling loudly. Jiraiya and Naruto watched from afar, slightly stunned at the display of emotion from two normally quiet people.

"Do you think we should… do something?"

"Nah… let them scream it out. It's healthier this way," Jiraiya replied.

"Is that really the way you see things?" Hinata said coldly, in response to something Sasuke had just said. They'd both missed it, wrapped up in their own conversation, but Naruto could hear an undercurrent of hurt in her voice. His frown deepened.

"Yes. Yes it is." Her eyes widened.

"Fine! I'll be going then."

She turned on her heel and started to walk away. Sasuke was watching her leave with no emotion on his face. His eyes were trained on her back as she form became smaller and smaller in the distance. Five minutes later, her form blurred; she was gone.

* * *

Phew! Sorry that took so long, I wasn't at home for Spring Break so I couldn't work on the chapter... well I could, but I was having way too much (G-rated!) fun.

Questions to address:

**SakuSasuHana **- Some people are calling SasuHana icky because he's SOOO much older... well, sorry, but he's like five years older, and when you compare the crack fics that pair up Sakura and Kakashi - that's like a seventeen year age difference, people - that defense doesn't really hold up. Especially if you're into crack pairings. I mean jeez, I've seen JiraiyaHinatas for pete's sake.  
And can I define love triangle? The original love triangle as it's used in classical lit (sorry, english geek coming through here) is a relationship between two people with another person trying to intervene in that relationship, whether it be a man, women, or men and women, or whatever! Sorry, but when people use the phrase 'love triangle' they often do so incorrectly. And that bothers me.

Glad that's out of my system.

Anyway. Drop me a line. Tell me how I did. Good? Bad? Ugly? More than a just a few words would be greatly appreciated. I love all my reviews, honestly, but the ones who actually comment on the story rather than just saying 'update soon' or 'good job', even if it's criticism, are my favorites. Those reviews are the spoiled younger children who you know your mom favors. So go on! One-up them! _**Give a nice long review, because a nice long review equals a new chapter faster! **_


	10. 09: Frustration of the Situation

_**Warning: NaruHina ahead, y'all. :D Also, this chapter's hot off the press… meaning it hasn't been looked over very thoroughly. So any mistakes should definitely be reported. Kthnx!  
**_

* * *

_**Prodigals**_

**Chapter 09**

_Frustration of the Situation_

* * *

"_Fine! I'll be going then."_

_She turned on her heel and started to walk away. Sasuke was watching her leave with no emotion on his face. His eyes were trained on her back as she form became smaller and smaller in the distance. Five minutes later, her form blurred; she was long gone._

"_What __**the fuck **__was that?!"_

He didn't know when it happened, just that suddenly, Naruto was in his face, and he looked really pissed. Sasuke, in contrast to the blonde's concentrated anger, was floating in a state of semi-denial and disbelief. He hadn't really thought – he knew that his words were harsh, but he hadn't wanted her to just – _go_ –

A large hand latched on to the front of his shirt, a hand he barely recognized as Naruto's own, and pulled him even closer to the blonde than before. Angry, red chakra pulsed from his teammate as Sasuke idly traced the whisker-marked cheeks with his eyes. Yes, this was definitely not happening. A simple dream. Naruto's canines really weren't growing at an alarming rate, and his eyes weren't turning the color of plum wine, the vibrant blue having been pierced with hellish scarlet –

His head met the hard wood of a tree some distance away, one of the few in the landscape. Sasuke barely registered this. Hinata was gone. As he endeavored to think of anything but his missing partner, the pain came like an electric shock.

"Ow." A droplet of blood slid down his face. A shadow fell over him slowly. His vision was colorfully spotted at the moment, so he could only recognize his teammate by his halo of blonde hair, outlined by the sun, and the pulsing energy.

"I don't know what you did. But whatever _the fuck_ it was, she'd better come back."

The steamed Naruto stomped away, intent on Rasengan'ing some trees into dust to work off his excess anger. Sasuke continued to drift in his world of non-reality, his subconscious mind wondering how badly he had screwed things up this time.

-

The next few days were a grey blur of pointless action for Sasuke. Since they had escaped together, they'd been separated before, but always with the intent to meet up again soon. It didn't look like that was the case here. Hinata had been his best friend for the past – almost four years, soon. They'd been through just about anything two people could do together, barring intercourse. She was – Hinata! He'd been such an imbecile – of course, to admit that to anyone but himself was not an option.

For Naruto, it was a constant attempt to keep himself from attacking his best friend. How the man could have been so incredibly idiotic was beyond him! And this was the genius of their graduating class? There was no hope for the rest of them, then.

"You don't mind if I lie low here, do you?"

"Do what you want, ero-sennin. What you do is no business of mine."

"Oh, lighten up! I'll even help you with your mission."

"You don't have to."

The gloomy tone hadn't left Naruto's voice. Jiraiya grimaced. This was getting really frickin' ridiculous.

"Sure I do! I'll even teach you a new jutsu…"

"Not interested."

Jiraiya choked on his next breath. "WHAT? Where is Naruto? What did you do with him?!"

"Oh, ha ha," said the blonde sourly. "I know you mean well… but honestly… could you just leave me alone?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"She's going to come back, Naruto."

"…I have to go on patrol. See you later."

* * *

Hinata panted heavily, leaning on the newly-won prize of her last fight. She felt a flicker of pride – her infamous opponent was out cold and missing a limb, while she had gotten away – well, not exactly _clean_, but close enough. She probably wouldn't even need to use Gobi's chakra to heal her wounds. Her clothes though, were getting to be pretty tattered.

Humming lightly, she made to stow her prize away in a summoning scroll but halted when her ears caught the sound of a rustle in the bushes behind her.

"Helloooo? If you've come for a fight, you should just show yourself," she called out lazily.

A man? No, just a boy, a teenager. He was glaring at her and her spoils angrily.

"_Where did you find that sword?!_"

* * *

It seemed that Naruto's urges to kill or at least maim him had faded significantly. The glaring didn't stop, however, and neither did the cold shoulder. It had seemed so unimportant when he was in the Academy and had done the same to the blonde – but being on the other end was tougher than he had imagined. He felt his guilt at his childhood jerk-ness toward Naruto added on to the guilt he felt because of Hinata. Wow, he was a jackass.

Jiraiya spent his time keeping Naruto company and attempting to cheer the blonde up, to no avail. Naruto spent his time doing his duties above and beyond high-quality standards, because since Hinata had left and he was pissed at Sasuke, that was all he had to do.

It had been one week since Hinata's departure.

There wasn't tension so much as there was – unused energy, Sasuke mused. What he had mistaken for tension was actually all the hyperactive liveliness that Naruto usually used in abundance which was now just sitting there. It was getting to be unbearable.

Naruto and Sasuke were retiring to their room after a long day of patrolling and investigation. There had been no new kidnappings so far, but there had not been much progress in the way of discovering where the other children were. Their mission was at a stalemate, which only added to the frustration of the situation.

"I need a word with Jiraiya," mumbled Naruto when they had reached their door. "I'll be back in a bit." Naruto moved down the hall toward the room that Jiraiya had paid for, not wanting to go back to his own room just yet. He hadn't slept at all since Hinata had left.

Sasuke stifled a sigh as he entered – they were very uncool, after all, and he still had some of his reputation to maintain – and immediately stiffened.

He was not alone.

Sliding into a crouch, he made his way silently around the corner. Whoever it was must've been particularly stupid, because they'd fallen asleep in the very room in which they'd been snooping, thought Sasuke disgustedly as he stood up. Buried under the covers and blankets of Naruto's bed, they looked rather harmless. Honestly, who was dumb enough –

Unless…

"Hinata!"

Her eyes snapped open as Sasuke ripped the comforter away from her, grinning. "You're back!"

"I was _sleeping_, you know that?"

"It's been awful without you –"

"Is that a _grin _on your face? What happened?"

"I can't believe I was such an idiot!"

"…wha?"

"Look, what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. I was a jackass."

She looked at him for a long, hard moment. Then her hand flicked toward him as her Byakugan blazed.

"Kai!" she near-shouted, slamming a fistful of chakra into his chest. He hissed in pain and stumbled backward, then grinned again, though it was strained. "It's really me, I promise!"

"Is this a mind control jutsu? Have you been brainwashed?" Hinata wasn't talking to Sasuke so much as going through the possible explanations for his current state – that is, grinning and apologetic. There was no trace of a joke in his eyes, just – happiness?

"Sasuke?" she managed, looking up at him. His smile was a bit faded, but still there – prominent on his usually scowling face. "Was it really that bad without me?"

"_Yes_," he said firmly.

She smiled shyly, reminiscent of her younger self. Her cheeks were even slightly pink as she gazed up at him through her lashes. It was nice to be missed.

"Sorry I ran away, it was really childish."

"Sorry I said what I did, I was being an idiot – and I was just worried about you."

"I know." She looked up at him. "Best friends?"

"Best friends forever."

There was a moment of silence as they looked at each other awkwardly.

"Umm…"

"This never happened."

"Right."

-

"So how long've I got?" asked Naruto, observing his teacher coolly. Jiraiya sighed. He had just spent the better part of an hour doing some tests and examining Naruto's seal. The results helped to narrow down the possible outcomes, but not significantly. "I'm still not exactly sure… I'm inclined to say longer rather than shorter, but who knows, with chakra like the Kyuubi's. If you use a substantial amount of its chakra anymore, you'll be bringing yourself closer and closer to death, I know that for sure."

"Well, that's not altogether a bad thing, right?"

"_What?"_

"I mean, let's face it. I house the most feared demon on the planet, the one who killed the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever seen – no, the greatest Kage in the Godaikoku, period. So many more people will be safe once I'm dead. There will never be a chance for the Kyuubi to break free, or for me to lose control… because I just won't be there." Naruto's tone was matter-of-fact, almost amused, as if he was talking to a small child and attempting to explain a difficult topic. The Sannin huffed angrily.

"If you're going to talk like that, I don't want to see you," he said sharply. "Go and get some rest – I don't think I can be around you without breaking your face in."

Silently, with that little smile still on his face that made Jiraiya queasy, Naruto exited, heading to his room with the hope that he could get a couple hours of sleep tonight.

He opened the door to the room he shared with Sasuke and heard the shower running. Rounding the corner of the small entryway in which he had removed his shoes, Naruto paused. Had Sasuke left the shower on? Because it looked like someone was curled up in the bed.

"Sasuke?" he called out.

"Yes?" came the muffled response from within the bathroom. Naruto narrowed his eyes and pounced. The person underneath him froze instantly and he held a kunai to where he approximated his or her throat to be. A set of pale, dainty fingers gripped the top of the comforter and pulled it down to reveal the identity of the intruder. He stared at her for a minute.

"…Hinata…"

"Hello," she said, as meek as her twelve-year-old self as she looked up at him. She tucked a bit of hair behind her ear and looked away from him, but he contorted his body so that he could still look into her eyes.

"I was… really worried about you," he murmured. "Please, look at me."

"I'm sorry," she said. That familiar blush was creeping up her neck to stain her cheeks – this was still Hinata. The thought softened the hard line of his mouth into a soft smile. The blush deepened from pale to dark pink.

"I'm sorry," she repeated. "I didn't mean to leave, I was just so upset at that idiot. What he said…" She trailed off weakly. It still hurt.

"What did he say?" His mellow tone and soft demeanor instantly vanished. "I'll make him wish he never said it," Naruto promised darkly.

"What he said… will stay between us, I think," she said, wincing. "Things said in anger are the most true, I think that's why it hurt me so bad."

"I don't care if it was true or not, Hinata. I just care that he hurt you, and I don't want anything to hurt you. Not now, not ever."

"In our line of work, that sort of thing is unavoid –"

"I don't care!"

The kunai dropped to the floor with a loud thump but neither of them paid attention. His hands went up the sides of her face and the pads of his thumbs brushed over her cheeks. Her face heated as his show of tenderness.

"I've never had this sort of feeling before, so I can't explain it very well," he said lowly. "I've never really known anything about…people. Always been clueless like that. And I really don't know anything useful about the opposite sex from my teachers, who are all horrendous perverts… all I can do is try to explain what I feel about you… that every time I look at you, I feel like – like I'm going to be okay, because somebody cares – really cares - for me, since the very beginning, when almost everybody else hated me. And that if anything should ever happen to that completeness that you give me, I'll shatter into a million pieces and nobody'll be able to put me back together. I can't lose you, Hinata. Not after just finding you!" he finished hoarsely, breaking away from her shocked gaze. He laid his head down next to hers, staring intently into the comforter of the bed.

"Naruto…" she said, so soft he almost missed it. Her fingers raked through his bangs gently and he turned his head to look at her.

"I know it's quick, Hinata, I know that you just got back and you probably aren't –"

"Are you sure that I'm what you want?" she asked him. For the first time in several years, she dropped all of her defenses and just looked at him with all her vulnerabilities bare. Her eyes were both full of mysteries and yet so very open to him. She really wasn't like all the other Hyuuga…

"I don't want you to decide a few weeks from now that I bore you, and that it's over, because I couldn't take that. _Don't break me,_ Naruto. Please. Make sure this is what you want before we take this any further." Her lips trembled.

He looked hurt. "Hinata…"

"_Please_," she begged him. "I've cared about you for so long… if you…if you were to…gods, I don't even know. Just… take some time for me, okay?"

"If that's what you want, of course I'll respect your wishes," he said suddenly, rolling off of her to lie on the bed next to hers.

"Naruto…" she sat up and leaned over him. Her hair fell like a curtain and tickled his cheek. "Don't think _I_ don't want this. I do, more than anything," she finished with a bit of a purr. Leaning down with her lips pursed, Hinata brushed her mouth over his own, sweet and feather-light. He stared at her. She smiled beautifully.

"Goodnight!" Hinata said with a yawn as she curled up right next to him. Her forehead was pressed against his ribcage gently; he could just barely bend his head and he would have buried his nose in her hair.

"'Night," he replied, both amazed and confused at this wonderful turn of events. Within minutes Hinata's breathing had deepened sufficiently so that he assumed she had fallen asleep, and Sasuke emerged from the bathroom.

"Gee-ez," he said. "Could you take a little longer next time?"

"Shut up…jerk…" said Naruto dreamily, not really paying attention to him at all. All his thoughts were currently revolving around the brunette beauty lying next to him.

"Took you two long enough. She's only loved you since she was eight years old."

"Ye – what?!"

"Man, she's been head over heels for you since our third year in the Academy," said Sasuke.

"That long?! I thought – maybe just before she'd left –"

"You underestimate your denseness and her shyness," the Avenger told him plainly. "Why do you think she could barely speak a word to you without fainting? Because she was afraid of you?"

"Well…yeah."

"Dumbass," said Sasuke, almost affectionately. "Try not to act too much like a lovesick fool. I may vomit."

"Oh, poor widdle Sasu-kins! No need to be jealous, I'm sure Sakura-chan will fall into your arms sooner or later…"

"…"

"Cat got your tongue?"

"…I'm afraid I haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about," Sasuke said disdainfully, bending down to hide his tiny blush. "But I'm sure I should be offended." He pulled the other bed away from the blonde, forcing him to wrap his arms around Hinata so that she wouldn't fall and hit her head. Naruto glared at Sasuke with his own blush.

"What are you doing?" he hissed quietly, trying not to wake Hinata up. She was stirring restlessly, pressing closer to him, which made him extremely nervous. It was simultaneously a nice sort of nervousness and a guilty one, because while it was quite enjoyable for him physically, mentally, he knew that Hinata didn't realize what she was doing or the effect she was having on him, so it felt like he was taking advantage of her somehow. That feeling of guilt was amplified by the state of their fledgling relationship – _new. _Delicate. Tenuous. Not at all ready for something so physically intimate. Never mind that they had been in this position several times two weeks previously.

"Being affronted by your commentary, I've decided to put some distance between us," said the Avenger with a smirk. "Goodnight."

Naruto did his best to keep his embrace innocent and then attempted to sleep.

* * *

When Hinata woke up the next morning, she was alone. She also had a pounding headache.

"Uggh…"

"Good morning, sunshine."

"Screw off."

"I see somebody's in a mood!" Sasuke said with a smirk. It was unseen, because Hinata refused to poke her head outside of the covers.

"Do I need more descriptive language?" she rasped out, as if suffering a hangover. "Fu –"

"No need to get vulgar. A little overindulgence, then?"

"…go 'way…"

"Expend a bit too much of a certain chakra?"

"…let it go_…_"

"Are you, perhaps, _suffering_ as a result of your idiotic – wha!"

Hinata sat on his chest, cutting off his airflow and glaring at him with tired, angry eyes. "If you don't have a solution to my awful migraine, shut the hell up. Also, I _still _don't regret what I did, so don't expect me to fall for your little self-serving guilt trip, got it?"

He nodded, slightly blue in the face. She leaned back on her knees, releasing some of the pressure. "Good. Now get Naruto and Jiraiya-sama in here while I wash up. We've got a lot to talk about."

-

Hinata emerged from the bathroom just as Naruto and Jiraiya entered the room, her partner trailing behind. Sasuke frowned at her.

"What happened to your other clothes?"

"Got ruined," she said simply. "This outfit was kindly borrowed to me."

She was wearing a halter dress made of tough, black material that shined a bit in the light. It zipped up the front and stopped at the middle of her thighs; underneath that was a full mesh bodysuit. She was also wearing short black boots and black gloves.

"'Got ruined'? That stuff was custom-made, very hard to –"

"Look, I was in a fight or two and my clothes were unsalvageable, alright? Geez, mom."

Sasuke grumbled under his breath but left the problem alone. For now.

"Anyway, I stopped at the monastery, Sasuke, and I managed to pick up some things that may help us."

"Did you see –" He stopped midsentence and looked away from her. "Never mind."

"Did I see _who_?"

"I said never mind."

"Did I see jackass Iwagetsu? Why yes, yes I did. He was just as much of an ass as he always is. Thanks for your concern."

"Why do you hate that man so much?" Sasuke asked, scowling at her.

"Well gee, I don't know, just maybe it's because he combines all the things I hate about the men in my life! First off, he believes that Fate is unalterable, so that's my father and my cousin; second, he's possibly the most sexist man on the planet, which is my father and cousin again, and even a little bit of _you_, Sasuke dear; and finally, he's a pervert of the worst form, which is just too many men in my life to think about right now! And you'd think – you'd _think_ – he'd have the goddamn _decency _to do all of these things separately, but no! They all culminate in the most humiliating, degrading, and infuriating three seconds of my life when he blatantly gropes me, _says that Fate made him do it, __**and then tells me to make him a fucking sandwich!"**_

Sasuke paused, taking in her features – the nearly-clawed hand digging into the wood of the table, the dark violet tint that was slowly blooming in her eyes, the tightness of her face – and then looked at her strangely.

"When did that ever happen?"

Hinata, both hands now in her hair, tearing at it furiously at the pure injustice of the mere thought of being in that man's presence, face flushed angrily, turned to stare at him. Her eyes were wide in her utter disbelief, mouth hanging open ever so slightly. Without a sound she leapt at him.

"AAAARGH!"

"_Do-these-work?!" _she yelled furiously, staring into his eyes and shaking his head. "_What-is-so-great-about-them?!" _She punctuated each work with a firm shake.

"What the hell, Hinata!"

"I don't understand why Orochimaru would want these useless things!"

Naruto and Jiraiya were both laughing as Hinata assaulted him. Both had been the underappreciated males on their team, so to see a genius get what was coming to him was hilarious.

"Ah, closure," said Naruto with a smirk. "How does it feel Sasuke-_kuuun_? That was me every day of the Academy and beyond."

"You know what? You need to get over this, Hinata! We have a mission to do!" the Avenger choked out as Hinata throttled him. She paused and removed her hands so that they hovered over his neck ominously. She continued to glare at him fiercely and she coughed lightly.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted with the memories of a man that I loathe – thank you, Sasuke – I managed to get some information that could possibly relate to our little problem."

She threw down several yellowing scrolls on the table. Sasuke picked one up gingerly. "These are from the restricted section! How did you get your hands on these?"

"Magic, what do you think? I took them. Comes with the territory, you know? Remember that whole ninja thing?"

"But – you know what Iwagetsu said about them – they're –" Sasuke trailed off and looked away.

"Cursed?" she finished, sounding supremely disdainful. For the first time, Naruto found he could compare her to most other Hyuuga. Her stance was haughty and her voice was cold. "You, my friend, are putting too much stock in the tales of old and senile people. You seem to have a problem with that."

"Cursed?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes… since I, um… liberated these scrolls without permission, something really awful will happen to me in the next week." She turned to glare at Sasuke, who was avoiding her piercing Byakugan gaze. "Ever since Uke-chan here had a, shall we say, 'divine experience', he's been taking everything those stupid monks say to heart with a dangerous passion."

Naruto choked on his own spittle. "_Uke-chan?!" _Truly, this was a woman after his heart! He grinned at Hinata, laughter quickly overcoming his tightly-pursed lips.

"Well, you can't say Sas_uke_ without the _uke_, ne?"

Sasuke was glaring furiously into a corner. Hinata only ever used that one when she was really, really upset about something he did or said. So he decided to lay off the subject of her curse for a bit and wait to be vindicated. When something dire happened to her in the next week, he would be sure to give her that condescending smirk he had perfected. After all, he had learned the hard way to take whatever the monks said seriously.

"Whatever," he said, turning away slightly. "Can we just get on to your amazing theory?"

"Patience is a virtue, my dear friend. Now, I'm going to ask both of you to suspend your disbelief for a moment while I explain what I found at the temple and why it is probably related to our problems here," she said speaking specifically to Jiraiya and Naruto as she opened a particular scroll.

In it were old drawings made in fading ink along with descriptions. The first drawing looked like a raccoon; he recognized the second as a kitsune. The third was unfamiliar to him - a humanoid shape but a bird-like head with a ridiculously long nose, much like a beak.

"The three major shapeshifters of old religion," said Hinata. "Tanuki, kitsune, and tengu. Tanuki are most common, tricksters of the petty sort. Kitsune and tengu, however, are in a league of their own. Powerful illusionists and often at odds with each other."

"You're saying all of this like they're all still wandering around," said Naruto, clearly skeptical. Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"Are you honestly going to look me in the eye and say that there are no kitsune running about?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, not rising to her bait at all.

"Please don't insult my intelligence," she said coolly. "I've known about the Kyuubi's true fate since I was ten years old, and I don't appreciate people talking down to me, least of all about that."

"You – know?" he asked her, nearly stuttering. She nodded.

"And so does Sasuke. Of course, it took him much longer, but he managed it eventually," Hinata replied airily, as if it were no big deal. And while it was important to know, Hinata knew that whether or not Naruto had the Kyuubi, he was still Naruto. In the long run, it wasn't really important at all. At least, not in a negative way.

"Back to the topic at hand," she said after a moment, Naruto having been cowed sufficiently so that she could finish her explanation.

"Over the centuries, their brutal rivalry developed into something else entirely. As the tengu became more prone to protection than destruction, and became the servants of the gods, they were called upon to check the powers of the kitsune, as if they were demons. Of course, not all of them are. But no distinctions were made, and the population of kitsune suffered heavily because of it. There is a long-standing hatred between the two groups. Naturally, even one who houses a kitsune will suffer their wrath, should he be brought to their attention."

"And what has all of this got to do with the situation here?" asked Jiraiya. Having seen much more than Naruto, he was more than willing to believe in what she was saying. "I believe everything you're saying is fact, but how does it relate? Are there tengu roaming here?"

Hinata selected a different scroll. "This is the legend of a certain infamous tengu, an archrival of the Kyuubi, who hated the youko – a corrupted kitsune – with such a passion that he began to attack the beast at any given opportunity despite innocent bystanders being hurt. Of course, this didn't go over to well with other tengu, because their primary purpose nowadays is to protect. So they sealed him away in a mountain range…"

"So you're saying that this tengu is sealed away in this mountain range," Naruto said, obviously having regained his nerve. The skepticism was back.

"Well, until I said the word Kyuubi, there hadn't been an earthquake in these parts for several hundred years. Not to mention that my Byakugan couldn't see through the mountain range, which is quite suspect."

"Can the Byakugan normally see through a mountain range?"

Hinata flushed and looked away. "Um…"

"Hinata's special," said Sasuke, trying to relieve her discomfort. "So special that giving away information on her powerful Byakugan is considered an SS-class crime," he bluffed easily.

"And you'd know all about those," muttered the blonde. Sasuke glared at him. Hinata diffused the situation by putting a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Now, now children, let's act our age," she chided gently. "There's still one more thing we haven't covered. The kidnappings."

She pulled out another scroll, as yellow as the first two. "Of course, if there is a way to seal something away, there is a way to bring it back. A corrupted tengu requires a very… dark sacrifice."

The light dawned in Sasuke's eyes and his face took on a grim cast. "Humans. Whoever is behind this needs to sacrifice humans to summon the tengu. That's why they're kidnapping children."

Jiraiya frowned darkly while Naruto swore. "Well, it's the most logical thing to do," said the older man, looking off into space. "Children are the most vulnerable population, aside from the elderly, but there aren't that many elderly in Tsuchi."

"Why?" asked Naruto. Jiraiya looked down. "The Great Ninja Wars decimated a lot of their population…those people would be getting into old age about now."

They all were silent for a moment before Hinata spoke again. "If this really is our problem, we've got a lot of work to do yet, among them being a mass evacuation order Ukiyo-no-Urami."

"Where can they go? That is, if any of them choose to leave," said Sasuke. "I don't think they'll be waiting at our beck and call to do whatever we ask."

"I agree. There's nothing we can do about that. All we can do is inform them of the dangers of staying and hope for the best. I suppose the ones that do go will have to make temporary camps a few miles toward the border."

"Why do they have to be evacuated in the first place?" asked Naruto. "I mean, we should be able to wrap this up before our mastermind manages to summon the tengu, right?"

"We can't take that risk. Right now we have no idea of where the captives could even be or who is behind all of this. If they should die before we get there and the tengu is summoned, the best way to reduce civilian casualties is to evacuate them in advance."

"I just don't see how we can do that."

"Who the hell are you? Get a grip, Naruto!" Hinata tossed her hair over her shoulder and started to roll up her scrolls. Sasuke smirked.

"Yeah, we can do this… believe it."

Hinata seemed caught between making a face and laughter. In the end, she decided on both. "Oh you," she said affectionately, pinching his cheek. "Alright boys, pack it up, we've got stuff to do!"

* * *

"He's not here, I don't know where he's gone," said Akemi. For the first time since they'd met the girl, she wasn't being outrageously flirtatious and hitting on all three of them with abandon. In fact, she looked nervous – maybe even scared.

"He's been missing since late yesterday," said Akeno, coming up to his sister and laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Could we talk to your mother or Megumi-san please?" asked Hinata, trying to be calm and set an example. Akeno nodded. "I'll take you to mother, Akemi will take you to obaa-san."

Akemi, even in distress, latched onto Hinata's arm and stared up at her with puppy dog eyes. "You'll come with me, won't you Hinata-san?"

"Of course, Mitsuhide-san," said Hinata formally and was quickly tugged away, Sasuke striding after them to make sure that Hinata wasn't molested in the interim of their separation.

"Please, come with me," said Akeno, bowing politely to Jiraiya and Naruto, who nodded in return. He swept away into the house, making the slight tremble in his posture almost invisible. Akeno led teacher and student down twists and turns, through hallways that were not at all familiar to Naruto. Finally, when the blonde had approximated their position to be under the center of the house, they stopped in front of a wooden door in the Western style. Akeno tried the knob.

"It's locked."

"I can break through, if it's easier…" Naruto offered.

"You can't. It's steal reinforced. And anyway, I know the passcode…"

He rapped twice and sharply on a wood plate to the right of the door that was a slightly darker shade than the surrounding wood. After a few seconds, the plate moved forward, held erect by a thin metal rod which twisted around so that a small panel of numbers revealed itself to them. Akeno leaned over the panel and quickly typed in the code; within seconds, there was a click as the lock the wooden door was opened. He quickly grabbed the knob and opened to reveal another door, this time one that was steel. It slid open for him.

Inside was a spacious bomb shelter complete with mini-bar and four chez lounges. Miyuki was sitting on one, not reclining, with her head in her hands. She was sobbing quietly, and only looked up as they approached her. Springing out of her seat, she dashed toward her son and took his hands in hers.

"Akeno! Are you alright? Has anything happened? Is something happening? And why did you bring these two here? You know what your father – well, I guess that doesn't matter anymore," she choked out, wincing when she mentioned her husband. "He isn't much of a father anymore…"

"Miyuki-san, I need to know what's going on here. Where is your husband? We need to order an immediate evacuation of the city, and at this point, only he has the authority necessary to –"

"He did it!" She burst out suddenly, eyes bulging and hair flying around pitifully.

Naruto stared for a moment. "I beg your pardon, ma'am, but –"

"Akechi…all of this is Akechi's doing," she whispered quietly. "The political turmoil, the poverty of Urami and the prosperity of Ukiyo, the kidnappings! He's behind it all!"

"Mother, you are far too stressed out! Please, take some –"

"I am not taking any damn more medication! That's how your father's been keeping my dumb!" she hissed at her son, throwing off his concerned hands. "Akechi is going to do something foul with those captives, I just know it! Please, please, please, Naruto-san, you need to find them!"

"Alright, alright, calm down," said Jiraiya, radiating authority. "Tell us what you know and we will help."

The older ninja stood like a rock. His calming presence clearly had an effect on her. Taking several slow, deep breaths, Miyuki quieted her sobs. "Okay. Okay. Okay. I just…I…I'm okay now. My husband has gone absolutely insane! I don't even… I – argh! He said something about Tengu Mountain Range, told me and the kids to stay inside the house, preferably the shelter, and then he took off."

"How did he go? Was there some other route besides the obvious one? Do you have any idea where he's holding the captives?" Naruto said urgently.

"Hold your horses, brat. You've got to take a situation like this slowly," counseled Jiraiya. Naruto glared at him as if to remind him that time was not on their side. He looked straight back, unchanged.

_I know, Naruto. I know. But she needs time. Her world is falling apart. Akechi is her version of Sasuke. _

The blonde backed down. At least he had expected Sasuke to snap… but Akechi had seemed so well-adjusted! He was so normal! Why in the world would he want to summon a tengu? He had everything – political power, wife and kids, money, respect… what else did he want? What did he hope to gain by doing this?

"The captives, the captives… no, I haven't the faintest clue where he's keeping them," she wailed piteously. "But… but… he said he had made another passage, one that he hadn't told me about it previously…it's in the house somewhere, and it leads right under the mountain, he said… there could be a-a chamber, or something where he's holding them!"

"Thank you so much," Naruto said as he smiled reassuringly. "I'll be back. In the meantime, I'd suggest that you and your kids, as well as Megumi-san, stay down here in the shelter. There could be a lot of movement in the earth around here soon."

"Akemi – she's still up there –"

"I'll make sure she's escorted here safely. Now, please don't move from here, alright?"

He looked at his teacher. "Let's blow this joint."

* * *

They rounded the corner and arrived at the spot where they felt Sasuke's chakra signature. He was standing in front of what looked like a large hole in the floor. Megumi was standing off the side guiltily while Akemi was looking down at the hole, frightened beyond belief.

"Naruto."

"Sasuke! Where's Hinata?"

"Megumi told us about a passage that led directly under the mountain… apparently Akechi's been keeping her quiet with money for some time now after she first discovered what she was doing… anyway, we went down the passage and it led directly to a sort of subterranean chamber – all the kidnapped people are being held there. Me and Hinata are taking the kids back one by one and using genjutsu to cover their absence. That place is teeming with Iwagakure ANBU –they're in on it as well."

"Ahh, fuck," he swore. "You help Jiraiya with the evacuation, I'll help Hinata –"

"No way. This is a subtle job that require genjutsu in case you didn't hear me, and that's not exactly up your alley is it?"

"He's got your number, kiddo."

"Shut up and stop double-teaming me!"

"Besides, your kage bushin will be the most useful for evacuation. You need to help with that. We've got it under control here for the moment."

"And what about these two?" said the blonde forcefully, even though he knew it was a lost battle.

"Didn't I just tell you how can you do everything and more? You know, _kage bushin_? Have a clone take them somewhere safe," said Sasuke, as if it should have been obvious. And it had been. Naruto's stubbornness had prevented his realization of this truth.

"'Ello!"

Hinata's head peeked out from the hole. On her back was a child of about four, who was severely starved and obviously maltreated. He trembled at the sight of the three male ninja.

"Hostage one, returned," said Hinata firmly, pulling herself up and setting the frightened boy down next to her.

"Do we really have the time to do this on a one-by-one basis?"

"That's the only way we can do it, Naruto. Any greater use of chakra and the ANBU would be all over us. So, one by one it is. Momomaru-kun is the youngest of all the children there, and his grandfather is Sanada Yukiro," she said matter-of-factly as she stood up and handed the boy to Naruto. "Find him in the evacuation, alright?"

"And what about the others?" Naruto said reluctantly after a minute, finally giving in.

"That'll be Sasuke's job – getting the rest of the kids to a safe zone."

"They can stay with us in the shelter," Akemi volunteered suddenly, voice quavering. "It's not big, but it's safe. And the closer that…dad… comes to doing – whatever – you're gonna need a safe zone quicker and quicker, yeah? They can stay in our shelter."

They all stared at her. Then Hinata smiled and walked over to her.

"Thank you so much, Akemi-chan," she said warmly. "You'll have saved many children's lives before the night is out, I think." Leaning in, she gently kissed the stunned teenager on the cheek.

"Well, I'm off again!" Hinata said, jumping down the hole and landing silently. "By the way, the jump's about six feet when you do come down!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Jiraiya listened to the almost non-sound of her footsteps fade away. They weren't listening long – she was too good for that. Akemi smirked without warning.

"She totally wants me."

"Don't get your hopes up," Sasuke warned her, smirking with equal arrogance. "She's practically committed." He pointed his chin at Naruto. She pouted.

"Alright then!" Naruto said a little too loudly. "I'll take Momomaru-kun with us to start the evacuation, okay little guy? Sasuke, you can take Megumi and Akemi to the shelter, at least one of them knows where it is. Let's do this thing."

He and Jiraiya took off at full speed; Naruto could feel the little boy clinging to his shirt.

"So you and the Hyuuga girl are really going out then?"

"…sorta…"

"Congrats! Nice one, she's totally –"

"Just. Stop. Now."

* * *

The evacuation was a tough process.

Many residents were stubborn or committed to their property, afraid this was a 'Konoha scheme' to steal their land. Naruto refrained from pointing out – with much difficulty – that the land in Konohagakure was much more useful than their own.

Thankfully, however, many of the residents were also able-bodied people who were able to move well without aid from other people. That made the process quicker. Naruto saw Sasuke a couple of times, a few kids piled on to his back or being held in his arms until he reunited them with their families. Instead of staying for the praise, like Naruto knew he himself might've, Sasuke stepped back, accepted their praises politely, and sprinted off full-tilt to help Hinata again.

Finally, after at least an hour and a half of herding people out of the city toward the border, everyone was mostly evacuated from the town proper, if not from the surrounding area. He made his way back to the house of Akechi as Jiraiya continued to lead the people to the border, where they could be at least a little safer from the destruction of the tengu.

Naruto raced down the hallways, heart pounding, ready to take real action against the direct perpetrators of the crimes. Finally, the gaping hole in the floor of Akechi's home was visible and he flung himself inside, still landing with all the grace and silence of an expert shinobi. He slipped down the hallway as fast he could without making too much noise; near the end it widened out, and he could see the glow of torches up ahead. Slowing down, he pressed his body against the rock and inched his way to the end of the passage, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on.

Naruto made it just in time to see a maniacally-grinning man run his ANBU-issue katana through Hinata's throat.

* * *

I'm evil, eh? :D

_**Note:**_ In a sexual relationship, the seme is dominant and the uke is submissive. What can I say, Hinata just loves emasculating the Avenger. :D

_**Note II**_**: **A lot of the stuff about tanuki/tengu/kitsune is real, but a some of it is bs that I made up for the sake of the story. For example: the kitsune-tengu rivalry is made up to fit the story. So, if you have any questions about the validity of my mythology, review/PM me so I can clarify.


	11. 010: So Very Human

Hey guys? If I tell you something really cool, will you forgive the atrocious amount of time it took to get this chapter to you?

_**Somebody PM'd me about doing a manga adaptation of Prodigals!**_ **Xo4evagurlox **is her name on this site, and she'll be posting at deviantArt under the name **candee4meeha**. You can find the link for the manga cover on my page – the link's just above. Go give her some love anyway.

* * *

**_Prodigals_**

**Chapter 010**

_So Very Human_

* * *

**Last time…**

_Naruto raced down the hallways, heart pounding, ready to take real action against the direct perpetrators of the crimes. Finally, the gaping hole in the floor of Akechi's home was visible and he flung himself inside, still landing with all the grace and silence of an expert shinobi. He slipped down the hallway as fast he could without making too much noise; near the end it widened out, and he could see the glow of torches up ahead. Slowing down, he pressed his body against the rock and inched his way to the end of the passage, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on. _

_Naruto made it just in time to see a maniacally-grinning man run his katana through Hinata's throat. _

All the fight left him in a whoosh of breath; time slowed down to less than a trickle. Blood sprayed out in slow motion, coating the man's face. Hinata gurgled and choked.

The man chuckled nastily and walked away, back to where his circle of ANBU were convening around Akechi, leaving his sword to slow the blood flow so that her death would be slow and painful. They began to murmur quietly, but he heard none of it; his eyes were only for her.

With all the silent and deadly grace of his training – because there was still a mission to be done, whether or not he was falling apart – he crept toward her, illusion shooting up around them so that they could talk – so that he could heal her, help her, do something! – unhindered. Nobody took note of the new genjutsu; their excitement was rising at the prospect of being so close to summoning.

"Hinata, Hinata, Hinata…" he whispered

"Naruto…" she smiled up at him and cupped his cheek with her hand. It was a surprisingly firm grip for someone who was dying.

"I…love…"

"H-hinata?"

"…Jiraiya…"

The fierce pounding in his head disappeared, replaced by a light, unbelieving haze. "_What_?" She sat up with a half-smile and rolled one shoulder, then the other.

"You need to lighten up!" she chided in a strong voice, drawing the sword from within her neck as if it were a knife being drawn from hot butter – that was to say, effortlessly. He stared at the blood coating the sword – _her _blood. Hinata moved her torso to face him; Naruto watched, enthralled, as the wound began to stitch itself together, much as his own hurts did, courtesy of the Kyuubi. Now they were only the bloodstains that sprinkled her face, neck, exposed shoulders and clothes. What was going on?

"Naruto?" She looked at him strangely, as if wondering why he had frozen up, like a statue. It took her a moment to realize why he looked like somebody had just killed his happy – recognition lighted in her eyes as his calloused right hand tentatively reached up to trace from the underside of her chin to the end of her neck, eliciting a shiver from her.

"Oh, gods, what have I done?" she asked hoarsely to no one. "Naruto! Please, oh please, look at my face. I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm completely fine, despite wanting to shove my foot in my mouth and leave it there forever… I forgot, I forgot, oh no, what've I done! I forgot you didn't know about my –" Power? Affliction? Both? What could she possibly tell him? "Thing…"

Except 'telling' wasn't going to work, she mused, looking at his glassy eyes which her still transfixed on the phantom wound in her throat. Well, actions should have to suffice then. Or possibly the two could be complimentary…

Grasping his hand from where it ghosted over the skin of her throat, she put it to her lips and kissed the knuckles daintily. His breath caught, but his gaze didn't move. Frowning, she moved closer to him and put her free hand to his cheek while mirroring the action with his hand that she had captured. Her long, slender fingers stroked his face gently.

"Naruto," she said, voice husky with grief. "Please. Please, come back to me. Even if you never forgive me… please snap out of it."

She watched his face carefully, and for a split second his eyes flickered, as if wanting to travel upward. Hinata took this as a sign – good or bad – and forged ahead.

At first slowly and sweetly, and then with more fervor, she pressed kisses all over his face – his forehead, the tip of his nose, an eyebrow, an eyelid, his cheeks, the underside of his chin, each corner of his mouth – until he inhaled sharply and locked his gaze on hers.

"You're alright," he croaked out, tracing over the planes in her face with the tips of his fingers. "I thought you had died - hell, I thought you loved Jiraiya!"

"I am so, so, so sorry!" she wailed, throwing herself into his arm and constricting around his neck tightly. "It's just that with Sasuke, I joke around like that all the time! I didn't even think about it!"

"You and Sasuke _joke _about this?" He sounded disgusted. She flinched and tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her. "I'm not mad at you, just mad that you two would think that was funny," he murmured, lips ghosting against the skin of her neck as he spoke.

"H-he knows things about me that you d-don't," Hinata said in reply, tripping over her words slightly. His lips on her neck were doing funny things to her stomach. "If you knew too, I don't think you would've reacted the way you did."

"Please don't do that again," he said roughly, tightening his arms. "Please don't."

"Alright," she agreed reluctantly. It was all fun and games when she did it with Sasuke. But there were other ways to have fun, she supposed with a small sigh.

Naruto pulled away from her and stood up. He looked down at her with guarded eyes before offering her a hand.

"We've wasted a lot of time," he muttered, avoiding her gaze. "We should continue our mission."

"Yeah." She didn't like the new, cautious way he looked at her. She had lost his trust. And all because of one stupid trick. Hinata let her hair fall into her eyes before creeping past the genjutsu he had set up to untie another child. Shushing the boy with a few fingers on his lips, she focused all her attention on the mission and not on the fact that she had just severely screwed up her relationship with Naruto.

* * *

"Let the ceremony commence!"

Akechi was beaming happily at his podium, positively glowing with pride. All these months of hard work were finally paying off!

"Bring the first child!" He ordered a couple of surrounding ANBU. One grumbled, but the other nudged him, telling him to hold his anger off without words. Soon, this little town would be destroyed, they could blame the whole mess on Konoha, and start the next Great Ninja War. And this nutcase Akechi they'd been working for would either be dead or in custody. The two ANBU headed for the children, intending to untie one to start the 'ceremony', but they never got that far. Hinata stepped out of range of the genjutsu, being careful not to rupture it, and sunk a needle into each of their throats. Naruto was left to summon enough kage bushin to release the remaining children.

"You'll have to kill me before you touch any of those children," said Hinata. Her voice was soft and cold.

The man who had run his katana through her throat was staring at her in disbelief. "I killed you!" he shouted angrily.

"You assumed shoving your sword through my throat would kill me," she corrected him. "A foolish assumption. And you didn't even stick around to make sure I was dead. Very bad form!" She drew his katana from behind her back and tossed it next to him. It was still shining red with her blood.

"You – demon!"

"Close enough," she said with a shrug before running forward and striking him on the heart with a chakra-filled palm. He convulsed, clutched at his chest, and then tipped over. A trickle of blood issued from the side of his mouth. He was dead.

Hinata was suddenly the center of action as every ANBU in the crowd in which she'd just placed herself attacked her. She kept a cool head throughout, and within minutes she had dispatched ten of them without a wound to herself. Akechi overlooked everything with a look of immense satisfaction, as if everything he wanted to happen was happening. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. With every passing second, the manic glint in his eye was growing; what exactly was going on here?

Naruto had safely escorted the last of the children out of the escape tunnel, making sure Sasuke was running herd over his kage bushin. They got a little overambitious if left to their own devices. Now he joined the fray, and within seconds of his joining the battle, it was over. He couldn't take too much credit, he thought with a bit of pride as his punched knocked the last conscious or alive ANBU against the wall of the cave. Hinata was the main reason everything was going smoothly now. And as loathe as he was to admit it, her little stunt earlier had made their opponents overconfident.

"Your sacrifices are gone, along with your protection," Naruto said flatly, looking the smiling Akechi dead in the eye. "Hand yourself over now, answer some questions, and we'll let you off easy."

"Let me off easy?" he repeated quietly. "_Let me off easy? _Ahahahahaha! Oh, how little you know, jinchuuriki-san!"

'Jinchuuriki-san'? How much did he know? A sudden thought struck his heart like ice. How much did Hinata know? Did she understand who – or what – he was? Did she –

"Stop playing games with us, Mitsuhide," Hinata said coldly, interrupting Naruto's panicked thoughts. "Tell us why we're really here."

If she took notice of the jinchuuriki comment, she gave no outward indication. Great – one more thing to complicate their delicate relationship.

"Why are you really here?" he said, once again repeating another's words. "You are here… because I willed it. You are here because, just as I suspected it always would, the pieces are falling into place. You've fallen for my trap completely!"

There was something wrong with his eyes, Hinata decided. Instead of the cheerful green eyes to which she had become accustomed, his eyes were tinted brown, and growing darker by the second. His voice had grown deeper and menacing; he no longer seemed skinny and harmless but tall and dangerous. Her eyes narrowed and she took a step closer, nose twitching. Naruto stepped with her, keeping one eye on their opponent and one on Hinata.

"You're not Mitsuhide Akechi, are you?" she said slowly. "Who am I talking to?"

"You're pretty clever for such a youngling," he said, voice deepening further until it reminded Naruto of the Kyuubi's growl, the kind that seemed to resonated throughout one's chest. It was something that was more felt than heard. His eyes darkened to mere pits of black; even the whites of his eyes had been overtaken by a shimmering goldenrod color. His nose grew in size just as they were talking. A red glow lit first his cheeks and then the rest of his face and his hair turned pure white. Though his height no longer increased, his presence in the room became suffocating. It was like demonic killer intent, a thousand times more potent than any human's.

"_I am Kurama-tengu, the greatest dai-tengu that Mount Kurama has ever known,_" Akechi's body informed them. "_That is what humans called this mountain in the old, old times, far before the Godaikoku you know today…I was sealed in this mountain because my fellows believed I had grown too obsessed with my goals, too obsessed with the destruction of a certain being –"_

He turned his manic grin on Naruto. _"The Kyuubi no Kitsune!"_

"We were never talking to Akechi, were we? This whole time… you had already possessed his body," Hinata said, once again ignoring the revelation of the true fate of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. What was wrong with this girl? Did she not care at all to learn the truth of the beast that attempted to destroy her village and had almost succeeded? Or… did she already know?

"_Again, you are correct. That young fool wandered into the mountainside one evening, hoping to gain spiritual clarity in certain matters – he wanted to reform the politics of this tiny eyesore of a town. Bah. A sliver of my old body resides in him right now, making him my avatar to the world… my puppet to control…"_

"So you're the evil sort of tengu, then?" Hinata, Naruto thought, was being rather too nonchalant about all of this.

"_NO! I am a protector, a teacher –"_

"Then why would you use a human only for the betterment of your own ends?"

"_Sometimes… for the good of all, one must suffer…"_

"No one has to suffer, ahou!" Hinata hissed at him, eyes flashing. "The Kyuubi is sealed away!" Naruto flinched, but was ignored by both parties.

"_Even inside your companion, the bijuu is a threat," _Kurama-tengu said fiercely. "_He cannot be trusted!"_

"I don't believe you!" Hinata shouted, equally fierce. Naruto was taken aback. "I will never believe that! Uzumaki Naruto is the strongest, the kindest, the most compassionate – the _best _– person that I know! Killing him would do me and everyone else on this planet a disservice!"

"_Your loyalty is admirable. But as long as that boy houses the Kyuubi, it is my duty to kill him_."

"You may kill him…over my cold, still corpse," she said, drawing upon her own demonic chakra and sliding into an offensive battle stance.

"Hinata, what do you think you're doing?!" Naruto asked hotly, grabbing onto her forearm with a near-crushing grip and tugging her backwards to keep her away from the crazed tengu. "This is no time to be rushing into something like this!" _And I can't lose you again! _He added silently.

"You cannot afford to become involved in this battle," she told him without looking away from the demonic eyes of what had once been Mitsuhide Akechi. "The effect that his chakra has on you will undoubtedly be a major handicap. I'll fight him directly. You look to attack him at long range."

"But –"

"A simple 'fine' or 'yes, ma'am' will suffice –"

"I'm team leader, _I _will decide who fights, thank you very much –"

"I'm not above breaking the rules, I was a missing ninja after all!" She turned to glare at him. "Search your brain right now and tell me what the better plan would be!"

Naruto ran his hand through his hair in agitation. Yes, his brain knew what the better plan was. He'd finally had logic beaten into him. But his heart was telling him something different altogether.

"Fine, but be - !"

She was already moving, reduced to a mere blur of motion. It was clear that during her fight with Sasuke, she had been mostly holding back – at least until the very end. Hinata matched the tengu blow for blow for blow. Naruto edged around the outside of their fighting range nervously, one eye waiting for an opening and the other watching Hinata's reaction time. He would step in if necessary.

"_Not bad, for a puny human girl," _said Kurama-tengu. Hinata countered fiercely, the Jyuuken strike to the chest throwing him off-balance for a moment. His face tensed in concentration as she backed off and they slowly circled each other. As they did so, Kurama-tengu drew a sword out of thin air.

"_I am sorry to end your life so soon. You are a powerful warrior indeed."_

He swung and Hinata hissed and jumped backward. The sharp edge of his katana had sliced the tips of her fingers. Where in sparring with Sasuke, she could block his sword using just chakra and her hands, the same was not true here. The tiny cuts immediately healed over anyway, so it was no big deal. The tengu looked at her closely.

"_What's this? Another one?" _Kurama-tengu closed his eyes and concentrated. _"Five, eh?" _Hinata was silent. All of her attention was focused on him.

"Can we just get on with it?" she asked coldly, after he did nothing but grin evilly at her for a full thirty seconds.

He lunged forward, his sword extending fast. Hinata missed it by a hair's length, eyes widening. The other properties this sword might have was a mystery. She used more and more of the Gobi's chakra to move, to keep her tired limbs going and to heal her most obvious wounds. That chakra was needed, or else she would collapse right there. Maybe she'd been using a bit too much of it, lately…

She hissed as the cold metal pierced her lung, very close to her heart. Damn, she need to pay better attention - It was painful to breathe, but she had faith. Her demonic chakra had always healed up a majority of her wounds; she felt no need to panic without cause.

Several long moments passed.

The pain did not go away. In fact, it worsened. Kurama-tengu did not withdraw his blade; instead, he only twisted it lightly and smiled when she flinched. A burning sensation was filling her lungs.

"_Is something the matter?" _asked Kurama-tengu. "_Are you having trouble healing yourself?"_

Blood dribbled out of the corner of her mouth. Hinata bared her teeth at him fiercely. The tainted chakra filled her eyes and made them bleed dark purple. But her wounds did not heal. Her breath was becoming dangerously shallow.

"_You see," _whispered Kurama-tengu, leaning in closer to her and sliding the blade further in as he went, "_All the tailed beasts have similarly-rooted chakra. Therefore, with the power to subdue the Kyuubi, I also have the power to subdue…"_

"To s-subdue…me…" The pain in her chest was becoming unbearable – so much so that her hated stutter had returned. "I…" She coughed, sending a small spray of blood down her front. "…get it…"

"_Hinata! _Quit playing around!"

He knew that she'd already displayed a blatant disregard for her own life, but this was ridiculous. They couldn't afford to waste time while fighting an enemy like this.

It took him a few seconds to comprehend the malicious grin on Kurama-tengu's face, and the taut frown on Hinata's as blood escaped her tightly-pursed lips. This was not like before. Hinata was not faking. She wasn't being healed; in fact, at the rate she was going, she was likely to –

His brain continued to think in that vein while his body leapt forward, bulling into the possessed body of Akechi with Herculean strength. Not even waiting to watch the predictably painful landing, Naruto dropped to his knees next to Hinata instead to watch the blood seep out of her with horrified awe. His eyes examined her with wild emotion as opposed to the calm of a doctor, which she could've used.

"Hinata, you – I thought – "

"Use a – kage – bushin… get me away – f-from him!" Talking was a trial for her. Each word required air, which required both of her lungs to work properly, which one wasn't doing at the moment. She reached up and put her hand on his cheek. _It's my fault_, she willed him to understand. _I pulled that stunt earlier. It's okay. _

She watched him carefully, his eyes especially. They would be the most obvious indicators of his change in chakra. Sure enough, they were turning deep purple and getting redder by the second. Using the last of her strength – it had been so long since she'd survived just on her own chakra, on her own merit – Hinata put both hands on either side of his face and pulled him down so that they were face to face. When he winced because her nails were digging into his cheeks, she knew he was paying attention to her voice rather than her wounds.

"_Do not use that chakra_," she said firmly, managing to get it out with stuttering, hissing in pain, or pausing while doing so. "If you do… he'll w-win…!" Her fingers went slack and her eyelids fluttered; being unconscious felt so lovely right now…

"Hinata…? Hinata!"

She was out cold and bleeding. Definitely not a good sign. As she instructed, Naruto used a kage bushin to move her out of the perimeter of the fight, told it to perform any first aid it could and take her even farther away if it was necessary to heal her wounds.

"_So you've finally decided to face me straight out!" _said Kuramga-tengu, grinning wildly. "_At last!_"

"You could've done anything you wanted to me. But… by hurting Hinata… you've made yourself my target."

"_That's what I've wanted all along, fool!"_

"If you really understood what that meant, you'd think differently."

For just a second, Naruto focused his energies completely on one objective – calling on his sage chakra. There was little change to his appearance, other than a thick black ring forming around each eye. Kurama-tengu's sinister gaze narrowed infinitesimally. This chakra was strange, completely foreign; he had never felt anything of its type before. He tried to sense it with more precision – and panicked.

The natural energy! This little nothing of a ninja – a container of the most powerful tailed demon in existence by pure twist of ignorant fate – knew how to access natural energy! The way in which this mere human was channeling the natural energy was corrupting it so much that he could barely sense it!

Because of his rage and the forgetfulness that came from many years of plotting a very particular assassination – Naruto's - Kurama-tengu had forgotten one thing: that tengu are created out of natural energy. Naruto was sapping his life essence as he stood there, becoming more and more angry at this sullying of said energy. His presence in the room lessened but he barely noticed. How dare that jinchuuriki!

"_Unworthy human worm! Toying with natural energy! You – your arrogance – " _

Why did he suddenly feel so lethargic? Could this be a jutsu the container was using on him?

"I'm fairly certain that the draining sensation you feel right now is something like what you did to Hinata. Except that in her case, you could only suppress the energy, and in this case, I'm taking all of yours."

It was Naruto's turn to grin, and his was as sinister as Kurama-tengu's had been. When he spoke, his voice was a deep-throated purr, more reminiscent of the Kyuubi than of him.

"Wanna _**dance**_?"

* * *

The world was hazy and dark.

She felt like she was on a scale that was tipping side to side, one side toward the mundane nightmares of the physical world – the ones Naruto was facing right now – and the other side toward nightmares of the stranger, more surreal side. Forward, there was a totally different feeling – not a nightmare, but a presence. She reached for it.

**AH, MY LITTLE PUP. HERE YOU ARE AGAIN.**

_Aikouka-no-yochi-sama. _

**MUST YOU BE SO FORMAL? I AM NOTHING TO BE HONORED. **

_Nonsense, Aikouka-sama. A being that was meant for destruction that chose instead to live honoring the lives of all other beings? How can I not revere you? I can only hope that I am worthy._

**YOU FLATTER ME. BUT ENOUGH OF THIS. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO WHILE I WAS NAPPING?**

_Go back to bed. Even dog demons need a little catnap, right?_

**I AM NOT AMUSED. LOOK AT YOU. **

_I know._

**YOUR BODY IS DEGENERATING FASTER. YOUR LIFESPAN HAS ALREADY BEEN SHORTENED BY ACCEPTING ME INTO YOUR BODY, AND NOW – **

_I know._

**I HAVE CONTINUALLY TOLD YOU THE CONSEQUENCES OF USING MY CHAKRA WITHOUT ALLOWING FOR NATURAL HEALING. AND YET YOU STILL CONTINUE TO USE IT. HUMANS! EXTRANEOUSLY!**

_I…_

_Do you know what it's like to be weak, Aikouka-sama? No…of course not… a demon of your caliber has never known weakness – or if you have, you've likely forgotten it because it was so long ago. _

**HINATA…**

_But I know it. I know it so well! I know weakness, and everything that it means to be, everything that it implies, that accompanies it. I was such a depressed and talentless child. Someone like me was not meant to be the bright heir to the great Hyuuga clan. And yet, there I was. As close to worthless as I could come – but at least my eyes _functioned. _The way my father used to look at me…_

_I never want to go back to that! I want to be useful! I want to be –_

She broke off mid-speech, unable to continue. What Hinata wanted most badly was to be loved. More than anything in the world. She averted her eyes from the Gobi.

But Aikouka was having none of it. She transformed her current body – or more accurately, changing her current personification, just a mere presence in Hinata's mindscape at the moment - into one more suitable to comfort a young woman. She was now an older, motherly female with brown skin. Aikouka-yochi wrapped a strong brown arm Hinata's shoulders; Hinata felt the soft fabric of her simple green kimono and it reminded her so much of her mother that she buried her face in the shoulder of one of the most powerful demons on her plane of existence.

**YOU ARE SO VERY HUMAN. ALL OF THIS WANT, THIS DESPERATE NEED TO BE POWERFUL… BUT IT COMES NOT FROM ARROGANCE OR EGOTISM, BUT FROM THE FACT THAT YOU WANT TO BE LOVED. AND GROWING UP IN THE FAMILY THAT YOU DID, A VERY SMALL, BUT VERY MUCH ALIVE PART OF YOU EQUATES USEFULNESS WITH LOVE. BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME.**

_That isn't – _

**BUT ISN'T IT? YOU HAVE NO AMBITIONS OF RULING THE WORLD, OR EVEN JUST A VILLAGE FOR THAT MATTER. YOU HAVE FEW AMBITIONS AT ALL. YOU FEEL NO NEED TO BE THE STRONGEST, TO PICK FIGHTS WITH OTHERS JUST TO PROVE YOUR STRENGTH. WHY ELSE DO YOU WANT MY POWER? WHAT OTHER REASON COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE? YOU, YOU HAVE ONE OF THE PUREST HEARTS I'VE EVER SEEN. **

_It can't be too pure… after all, I've been so selfish with your power. _

**YES, YOU WERE SELFISH. BUT WHY? TO PROTECT THOSE CLOSE TO YOUR HEART, AND TO GAIN THE LOVE AND RESPECT FOR WHICH YOU HAVE ALWAYS YEARNED. THERE IS NO WRONG IN THAT. **

Hinata was silent.

**YOU ARE STILL FREE TO USE MY POWER AS YOU PLEASE. JUST REMEMBER WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT HERE… AND THOSE YOU MIGHT HURT BY DESTROYING YOURSELF.**

There was a montage of photographs in her memory that lasted only half a second, and the last image left lingering in her mind was that of Naruto's face when he thought she was dead…

* * *

The world was vibrant with color – red, mostly.

Hinata coughed as she sat up violently, sending a spray of blood down her front and staining her hands, which she had raised futilely to try and stop the spurt.

"Hinata! Are you alright? What can I do?" The clone who had taken her away from the fight was looking her over frantically, eyes moving from one wound to the next.

"Naruto, do you have any first aid skills whatsoever?" He shook his head sheepishly, looking at her from behind his bangs like a lost boy.

"I'm going to find Sasuke… please be safe," she said, voice trailing into a whisper at the end. She reached up and pulled his face close to hers. Hinata touched her lips to his without preamble before whispering to him "Work on your taijutsu form, it's awful from my point of view," and delivering a punch to his gut that would've knocked out a lesser ninja. It certainly was enough to dispel the clone.

She didn't look over at the fight; she knew that if she did, Naruto would probably be looking back, and they would both be distracted. Instead, she assessed the wounds on her body, using scraps of her own clothing as tourniquets. From the feeling of pressure relieved, Kurama-tengu's power must have been dissipating, and so she was now free to use Aikouka-sama's chakra. She sent it immediately to the wound in her chest but no place else. It was time for her to use more restraint with the power that had been so graciously bestowed upon her with no strings attached. So unlike the power of the Byakugan, which came with such a high price…

"Hina – what the hell –"

"It's good to see you too," she said with a dark grin, looking up at Sasuke and clutching at her chest wound. "Ahh… this should be far e-enough."

She slumped down against the rock wall, leaving a red trail on its side as she did. Sasuke was at her side in a few seconds. "Are you comfortable? What can I do?"

"I'm just… exhausted. That's it…just need to rest…"

"Really? Can't you just use _that _chakra?"

"And have you in my face, talking about how dumb I was to use it? No, thank you."

Sasuke scowled and leaned down close to her. "Don't play stupid with me, Hinata. I know you. There's something you're not telling me about that chakra. Why stop now? After all these times you've used it almost constantly, and now you're just going to stop?"

"That's right."

"…hn…"

"All you need to know is this: absolutely nothing."

"All of this time, you still can't trust me?"

"Oh! Why hello there pot! What a pleasure it is to meet you!" She rasped out sarcastically. Her throat was getting dry and scratchy. "My name is kettle - I believe you've been stomping around the village, calling me black?"

"Now isn't really – "

Both of them felt the sudden, fierce stab of Kyuubi chakra, and knew it was no time to argue.

"We're continuing this later." Sasuke was grumbling under his breath as he leaned down and helped Hinata to crawl onto his back.

"Ugh, you're getting blood all over me." Hinata all but ignored him, all of her energy focused on one thing – getting to Naruto's side as quickly as possible. He would not last long against Kurama-tengu if he used the chakra of Kyuubi.

"Just get me to Naruto, _dad_."

* * *

Ugggh... such a long time to write this thing! Forgive a lack of continuity... half was written right after the last chapter, and half was written in the past week.

It's been so long, but... review? I feel like we never talk anymore...

Oh, and tell me if the breaks aren't working. They had some trouble in the editor.


	12. YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING

**ATTN: THIS STORY IS DEAD.**

Like, seriously. I haven't updated in about five years (YIKES.) and I haven't thought of it in about as long. I started out writing it with simply the idea of Sasuke and Hinata being bros and a hazy idea of a few of the events I wanted to take place in the story - no main plot or obstacle; no thought to how the events of the story would help the characters change and grow... I thought about writing a summary chapter about what was going to happen in the story before I realized that I didn't even know what was going to happen myself. You get the idea. Not to mention I can't even bring myself to reread it entirely since I find a lot of the dialogue/"plot" so cringeworthy.

But I am leaving it up, as a testament to my first truly popular story, and to the people who are still faving/following it as recent as two days ago. Thank you so much for your support on this ended endeavor. I love and appreciate all of the attention it got and continues to get. Readers like y'all make me want to be a better writer.

XOXO,

MissW


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